Sustained monitoring of the Southern Ocean at Drake passage: past achievements and future priorities

• Published in: Reviews of Geophysics
• Main Authors: Meredith, Michael P., Woodworth, Philip L., Chereskin, Teresa K., Marshall, David P., Allison, Lesley C., Bigg, Grant R., Donohue, Kathy, Heywood, Karen J., Hughes, Chris W., Hibbert, Angela, Hogg, Andrew Mcc., Johnson, Helen L., Jullion, Loïc, King, Brian A., Leach, Harry, Lenn, Yueng-Djern, Morales Maqueda, Miguel Angel, Munday, David R., Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., Provost, Christine, Sallée, Jean-Baptiste, Sprintall, Janet
• Other Authors: British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), University of California San Diego (UC San Diego), University of California-University of California, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics Oxford (AOPP), University of Oxford Oxford, Department of Meteorology Reading, University of Reading (UOR), Department of Geography Sheffield, University of Sheffield Sheffield, Graduate School of Oceanography Narragansett, University of Rhode Island (URI), School of Environmental Sciences Norwich, University of East Anglia Norwich (UEA), Department of Earth Ocean and Ecological Sciences Liverpool, University of Liverpool, Research School of Earth Sciences Canberra (RSES), Australian National University (ANU), National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOC), University of Southampton, Bangor University, Austral, Boréal et Carbone (ABC), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN), Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL (FR_636)), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: geo; envir; Antarctic; Drake Passage; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1029/2010RG000348; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00753357/file/2010RG000348.pdf; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00753357

Paper number: 2010RG000348 International audience Drake Passage is the narrowest constriction of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) in the Southern Ocean, with implications for global ocean circulation and climate. We review the long-term sustained monitoring programs that have been conducted at Drake Passage, dating back to the early part of the twentieth century. Attention is drawn to numerous breakthroughs that have been made from these programs, including (1) the first determinations of the complex ACC structure and early quantifications of its transport; (2) realization that the ACC transport is remarkably steady over interannual and longer periods, and a growing understanding of the processes responsible for this; (3) recognition of the role of coupled climate modes in dictating the horizontal transport and the role of anthropogenic processes in this; and (4) understanding of mechanisms driving changes in both the upper and lower limbs of the Southern Ocean overturning circulation and their impacts. It is argued that monitoring of this passage remains a high priority for oceanographic and climate research but that strategic improvements could be made concerning how this is conducted. In particular, long-term programs should concentrate on delivering quantifications of key variables of direct relevance to large-scale environmental issues: In this context, the time-varying overturning circulation is, if anything, even more compelling a target than the ACC flow. Further, there is a need for better international resource sharing and improved spatiotemporal coordination of the measurements. If achieved, the improvements in understanding of important climatic issues deriving from Drake Passage monitoring can be sustained into the future.