LARGE-SCALE MODELING OF THE SOUTH-EAST ATLANTIC UPWELLING SYSTEM

The profitable management of fisheries resources depends largely on an ability to anticipate fish recruitment, growth and distribution. This in rum is determined, to a currently unknown extent, by a reliable pr edictive ability for changing environmental variables. It is becoming increasingly apparent that prediction of the physical aspects of the o cean will have to rely on numerical modelling of the system, supported by spot measurements at sea. In this paper, a first attempt at modell ing the entire upwelling system of the South-East Atlantic, from 24 de grees S to the tip of Africa, with the FRAM (Fine Resolution Antarctic Model) is presented. The main large and mesoscale upwelling features and processes, including the core upwelling centres and upwelling plum es, are simulated well. Velocities and the distributions of salinity a nd temperature in the model are all in general agreement with those ob served at sea.