Abstract
ERRATA
Figure ?? p. 7 refers to Figure 3.1
Figure ?? p. 15 refers to Figure 4.1
Figure ?? p. 17 refers to Figure 4.2
Eq. (4.9) shall read: u_comp = RMS_u sin(fi)
Eq. (4.11) shall read NS_vel = u_comp + v_comp
For the Oslofjord, the model referred to in this thesis work is MIPOM (Blomberg and Mellor, 1987; Engedahl, 1995b; Røed and Fossum, 2004). MIPOM is an abbreviation for the Meteorological Institute's revised version of the Princeton Ocean Model.
The scope of this thesis is to validate the MIPOM model run for the Oslofjord. Field measurements of the currents at specific cross sections in the Oslofjord has been conducted. The north/south components of the measured currents has been further analyzed and compared to the north/south components as predicted by MIPOM. The north/south components were chosen for the possibility to relate it to water level variations in the inner parts of the Oslofjord.
The volume transport through the cross sections has been calculated, both for the field observations and for the MIPOM model. The results varies. Generally the model seems to underestimate the current strength and therefore also the volume transport. Flow patterns, where and at which depths currents occur, also varies.
The plots of the currents reveals a particular difference between the measured and modeled data. In the plots where the measured data is averaged over a period of 20 seconds (corresponding to a 60x60 meters grid), the bottom topography is represented in better detail than in the model. The purpose of the model is to predict the direction, strength and location of the current flowing and forecast water levels in the Oslofjord. Higher resolution should be a topic for further work with the MIPOM or a new NOWP model for this area.