The wider domain Scottish Shelf Model

The wider domain Scottish Shelf Model (SSM) domain covers the Scottish continental shelf at relatively high resolution but also covers most of UK waters, the North Sea and the English Channel. The domain extends from approximately 48° - 62° N and 13° W - 13° E. The model grid is unstructured with spatially variable horizontal resolution, with up to 1 km node spacing at the coastline.

This wider domain model was designed to cover the whole of Scottish waters, and has the highest resolution and has been validated for this region. A number of higher resolution sub-models have also been created and are typically nested within the wider SSM.

Until recently the main output from the wider domain SSM was a one year model run with climatological forcing. These climatological forcing data were derived from other long (25 year) model runs, which have been averaged to form a climatology. The latest present day climatology version is 2.01 which represents average conditions over 1990 – 2014. The climatology has a 1993 tidal component included. As part of another project (EcotWatt2050) a future climatology representing 2038-2062 was created (SSM 2.02).

There is now a 27 year reanalysis of the SSM, performed by the National Oceanography Centre, and this is available for download from the Scottish Shelf Waters Reanalysis Service (SSW-RS).

This information page is part of the theme: 
The Scottish Shelf Model
The Scottish Shelf Model domain and unstructured grid node spacing.

Model Runs and Versions

The model versions/runs listed each have a different computational grid and/or use different forcing data. This is reflected in the version numbering convention where the first number indicates the grid version and the second indicates the model run and/or the forcing data used. Rows where the text is gray indicate that the model version has been surpassed with a later version, usually listed directly below. For example, SSM 1.01 was replaced by SSM 2.01.

Version Number Time Period Description Boundary Forcing Atmospheric Forcing Fresh Water Forcing FVCOM Version DOI
SSM 1.01 1 year climatology representing 1960 - 2004 Original SSM grid (version 1) with climatological forcing Climatology derived from Atlantic Margin Model, POLCOMS, 12 km resolution (1960-2004) Climatology derived from ECMWF ERA-40 and ERA-Interim (1960-2004) Grid2Grid climatology (1962-2011) 3.1.6  
SSM 2.01 1 year climatology representing 1990 - 2014 Updated SSM grid (version 2 with the Island of Swona included) with new climatological forcing Climatology derived from Atlantic Margin Model, AMM7, 7 km resolution (1990-2014) Climatology derived from ECMWF ERA-Interim (1990-2014) Grid2Grid climatology (1962-2011) 3.2.2 10.7489/12037-1
SSM 2.02 1 year future climatology representing 2038 - 2062 Version 2 grid with climatological forcing around the year 2050 Boundary and atmospheric forcing data from version 2.01 were perturbed using multiplicative or additive corrections based on a Hadgem2-ES model run forced by the RCP8.5 scenario Grid2Grid climatology (1962-2011) 3.2.2 10.7489/12231-1
SSM 2.03 3 month hindcast for Aug - Oct 2018 Version 2 grid with hindcast boundary and atmospheric forcing. Stared on 25 Jul 2018. Atlantic Margin Model 7 km, AMM7, Atlantic -European north west shelf - ocean physics analysis and forecast. Hourly instantaneous data for Jul-Oct 2018. ECMWF ERA-5 hindcast for Jul - Oct 2018 Grid2Grid climatology (1962-2011) 4.3 (uk-fvcom 30 Apr 2019)  
SSM 2.04 3 month hindcast for Aug - Oct 2019 Version 2 grid with hindcast boundary and atmospheric forcing. Stared on 25 Jul 2019. Atlantic Margin Model 7 km, AMM7, Atlantic -European north west shelf - ocean physics analysis and forecast. Hourly instantaneous data for Jul-Oct 2018. ECMWF ERA-5 hindcast for Jul - Oct 2019 Grid2Grid climatology (1962-2011) 4.3 (uk-fvcom 30 Apr 2019)  
SSM 3.01 26 year reanalysis (1993 - 2018) Scottish Shelf Waters Reanalysis Service with 20 uniform terrain following sigma coordinates.

Atlantic - Atlantic Margin Model 7 km (AMM7) European North West Shelf ocean physics reanalysis (temperature, salinity, residual current speed and residual SSH), TPXO9 (hourly tidal current speeds and SSH).

Baltic - Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) hourly Baltic Sea Physics Reanalysis (temperature, salinity, residual current speed and SSH), TPXO9 (tidal currents).

 ECMWF ERA-5 (1979-present) SMHI E-HYPE (1989 - 2020), CEH Grid2Grid climatology (1962-2011) 4.0 (uk-fvcom) 10.7489/12355-1
SSM 3.02 27 year reanalysis (1993 - 2019) Scottish Shelf Waters Reanalysis Service with a hybrid sigma later scheme to better resolve the surface and pycnocline layers. The vertical water column is resolved using 20 standard terrain following sigma layers (each representing 5% of the water column) in areas shallower than the 120 m isobath. In areas deeper than the 120 m isobath, the water column is resolved with 5 fixed layers at the surface and 2 fixed layers at the bottom.

Atlantic - an updated version of the Atlantic Margin Model 7 km (AMM7) European North West Shelf ocean physics reanalysis (temperature, salinity, residual current speed and residual SSH), TPXO9 (hourly tidal current speeds and SSH).

Baltic - Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) hourly Baltic Sea Physics Reanalysis (temperature, salinity, residual current speed and SSH), TPXO9 (tidal currents).

 ECMWF ERA-5 (1979-present) SMHI E-HYPE (1989 - 2020), CEH Grid2Grid climatology (1962-2011) 4.0 (uk-fvcom) 10.7489/12423-1

If you are interested in any of these models, or the model outputs, please contact the Marine Scotland Science Oceanography group (mss.oceanography@gov.scot). Output of selected variables, at either reduced precision or temporally averaged on non-native grids, are available for download by following the links in the data sources table below.

Thursday, July 21, 2022 - 16:57

Links and Resources

Type Link Titlesort descending External Link
Marine Scotland Data Portal Physical variables from the Scottish Shelf Model 1990-2014 climatology – 4 monthly averages on a shelf wide regular grid data.marine.gov.scot
Marine Scotland Data Portal Physical variables from the Scottish Shelf Model 2038-2062 future climatology – 4 monthly averages on a shelf wide regular grid data.marine.gov.scot
Marine Scotland Data Portal Scottish Shelf Model 3.01 - 26 Year Reanalysis doi.org
Marine Scotland Data Portal Scottish Shelf Model 3.02 - 27 Year Reanalysis doi.org
Marine Scotland Data Portal The Scottish Shelf Model 1990 – 2014 climatology version 2.01 data.marine.gov.scot
Marine Scotland Data Portal The Scottish Shelf Model 1990 – 2014 climatology – reduced precision output from version 2.01 data.marine.gov.scot
Type Title External link
Documents Comparative Effects of Climate Change and Tidal Stream Energy Extraction in a Shelf Sea doi.org
Documents Multi-scale ocean response to a large tidal stream turbine array doi.org
Documents Scottish Shelf Model workshop June 2017 www.masts.ac.uk
Documents MSS Seminar 24/08/2017: Scottish Shelf Model and its applications marine.gov.scot
Marine Scotland Data Portal The Scottish Shelf Model. Part 1: Shelf-Wide Domain data.marine.gov.scot