Keywords:
Ocean circulation - Atlantic Ocean.
;
Electronic books.
Description / Table of Contents:
Recent results from modeling and observational studies demonstrate that the tropical Atlantic is a critical region for processes that maintain the meridional overturning circulation, such as cross-equatorial exchanges, and for sea surface temperature variability that impacts on climate variability of the coupled tropical ocean/atmosphere system. The theme of this book is the inter-hemispheric and inter-gyre exchanges of heat, salt and fresh water, while its goal is to improve the knowledge of the tropical Atlantic dynamics and how it affects the global ocean. A clear understanding of the dynamics of processes that affect the flow of mass and heat between the southern and the northern hemispheres in the upper few hundred meters in the tropical Atlantic and of those associated to the ocean circulation or to surface signals, from decadal, inter-annual to mesoscale periods, becomes necessary to better evaluate their contribution to the interhemispheric mass exchange. These processes are believed to be largely responsible in driving the sea surface temperature, which in turn, is a critical parameter to investigate ocean-atmospheric interactions. Output produced by regional models is also used to complement the observations and to provide additional information on their spatial and temporal variability. The subtropical cells, by bringing water masses subducted in the subtropics to the equator, and zonal currents investigated here contribute to the interhemispheric water exchange. Special attention is also given to the warm and salty anticyclonic rings shed by the North Brazil Current, which are now known to have a much broader impact, not only on interhemispheric water mass transfer, but also on the environment of remote regions. Observations from different sources are blended together, are used to validate model outputs and are also assimilated into
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
Pages:
1 online resource (523 pages)
Edition:
1st ed.
ISBN:
9780080534893
Series Statement:
Issn Series ; v.Volume 68
URL:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/geomar/detail.action?docID=313670
DDC:
551.46/213
Language:
English
Note:
Front Cover -- INTERHEMISPHERIC WATER EXCHANGE IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN -- Copyright Page -- CONTENTS -- Preface -- Chapter 1. Circulation, variability and near-equatorial meridional flow in the central tropical Atlantic -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Methods and data -- 3. The water masses -- 4. Results -- 5. Discussion -- Chapter 2. Comparison of hydrographic and altimeter based estimates of sea level height variability in the Atlantic Ocean -- 1.Introduction -- 2. Data and methods -- 3. Analysis -- 4. Discussion -- 5. Summary -- Chapter 3. Estimation of the tropical Atlantic circulation from altimetry data using a reduced-rank stationary Kalman filter -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Model of the tropical Atlantic -- 3. Approach for assimilating SHA -- 4. Identical twin assimilation experiment -- 5. Assimilation of the TOPEX/Poseidon SHA -- 6. Summary and conclusions -- Appendix: Derivation of reduced-rank Kalman filter -- Chapter 4. A synthetic float analysis of upper-limb meridional overturning circulation interior ocean pathways in the tropical/subtropical Atlantic -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Background and goals -- 3. Analysis procedures -- 4. Eulerian Analysis -- 5. Lagrangian analysis -- 6. Case study and mechanisms -- 7. Discussion -- Appendix 1: Diagnosis of vertical velocity -- Appendix 2: Spatial interpolation of model variables to floats -- Appendix 3: Float advection -- Chapter 5. A seasonal and interannual study of the western equatorial Atlantic upper thermocline circulation variability -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Estimates of current velocity from SSH slopes and curvatures -- 3. Data -- 4. Data proessing -- 5. Comparison of in situ data and altimeter-derived fields -- 6. Analysis of the circulation fields -- 7. Inter-hemispheric transports and transport pathways -- 8. Summary and conclusions.
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Appendix: Preparation of band-limited circulatoin and transport fields -- Chapter 6. Fate of the equatorial undercurrent in the Atlantic -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Model and data handling -- 3. Results -- 4. Summary and conclusions -- Chapter 7. The flow of AAIW along the equator -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The model configuration -- 3. Synthesis of theory and observations -- 4. Summary -- Chapter 8. Planetary equatorial trapped waves in the Atlantic Ocean from TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Sea height and sea surface temperature data -- 3. Equatorially Trapped Modes -- 4. Results -- 5. Discussion -- 6. Summary and conclusions -- Chapter 9. Pathways and variability at intermediate depths in the tropical Atlantic -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Data and methods -- 3. Large scale flow patterns -- 4. Temporal and spatial variability between 5°S and 7°S -- 5. Discussion and conclusions -- Chapter 10. A comparison of kinematic evidence for tropical cells in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Data and analyses -- 3. Results -- 4. Discusion -- Chapter 11. Subtropical cells in the Atlantic Ocean: An observational summary -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Subduction -- 3. Pathways between the subduction regions and the upwelling regions -- 4. Upwelling in the tropical Atlantic -- 5. Near surface return flow to the subduction areas -- 6. Summary and remaining questions -- Chapter 12. Spectral, formal, and nonlinear stability in a layered quasigeostrophic model with application to the Atlantic North Equatorial Current -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Theory -- 3. Data -- 4. Summary and conclusions -- Appendix A: Energy and Casimir matrices -- Appendix B: Dispersion relatio -- Appendix C: Eigenvalue problem in ψ fcoordinates -- Chapter 13. Synoptic study of warm rings in the North Brazil Current retroflection region using satellite altimetry.
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1. Introduction -- 2. Region of study -- 3. Data -- 4. Two-layer model approximation -- 5. Results and discussion -- 6. Summary -- Chapter 14. North Brazil Current rings and the variability in the latitude of the retroflection -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Methodology -- 3. Dynamic height field -- 4. Latitude of penetration and number of rings shed -- 5. Rings volume and temperature transport -- 6. Summary -- Chapter 15. North Brazil Current rings and transport of southern waters in a high resolution numerical simulation of the North Atlantic -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Model configuration -- 3. The North Brazil Current system from the model and observations: The seasonal circulation -- 4. The North Brazil rings, sea surface height variability and effect on transports through the Lesser Antilles passages -- 5. Transport of southern Atlantic waters by rings -- 6. Discussion and conclusions -- Chapter 16. Cross-gyre transport by North Brazil Current rings -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Data and Methods -- 3. Results -- 4. Discussion and conclusions -- Chapter 17. Impact of North Brazil Current rings on the local circulation and coral reef fish recruitment to Barbados, West Indies -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Methods -- 3. Results -- 4. Discussion -- Chapter 18. Wind bursts and enhanced evaporation in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean -- 1. Introduction and background -- 2. Result -- 3. Concluding remarks -- Chapter 19. Spatial-temporal evolution of the low frequency climate variability in the tropical Atlantic -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Data and processing -- 3. Results -- 4. Conclusions -- Index.
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