A monitoring design for the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
[1] Current hydrographic data can provide snapshots but no continuous timeseries of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). Using output from two eddy-permitting numerical ocean models we test the feasibility of a monitoring system for the MOC in the North Atlantic. The results suggest that a...
| Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2003
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-000E-7328-6 http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-000E-ACFE-C http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-000E-AFC5-3 |
| Summary: | [1] Current hydrographic data can provide snapshots but no continuous timeseries of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). Using output from two eddy-permitting numerical ocean models we test the feasibility of a monitoring system for the MOC in the North Atlantic. The results suggest that a relatively simple arrangement, using moorings placed across a longitude-depth section and the zonal wind stress, is able to capture most of the MOC strength and vertical structure as a function of time. Being closely related to the transport of energy to the North Atlantic, measuring the MOC would open the prospect of having continuous information about a key element of northern hemisphere climate. |
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