Numerical study of climatic variability in the South Atlantic Ocean

• Grant number: 00/02958-7
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: May 01, 2001 - July 31, 2004
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Physical Oceanography
• Principal researcher: Ilana Elazari Klein Coaracy Wainer
• Grantee: Ilana Elazari Klein Coaracy Wainer
• Home Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Seasonal climatic variability in the South Atlantic is investigated using a series of numerical simulations with the coupled Climate System Model (CSM), undertaken by the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The first simulation is implemented for 300 years to study the existence of variability on the decadal and interdecadal scale. Two other simulations are undertaken with the view to verifying the role of the atmosphere in this time scale. The first contains levels of tracer gases and greenhouse effect gases from the pre-industrial era, while the second simulation assumes the levels indicated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC). Finally, it is intended to implement a simulation for 150 years merely with the atmospheric component, to evaluate whether the variability obtained in scales of low frequency is intrinsically oceanic. The statistical analysis of the data obtained is done with the techniques of EOF (empirical orthogonal functions) and SVD (singular value decomposition). The EOF method is applied to each field in isolation, while the SVD method is applied to both fields simultaneously. The significance of the ocean-atmosphere will be revealed by the strong resemblance between the individual EOF and the couple SVD of TSM and PPT and associated fluxes of heat and momentum. The area of the study goes from 0N to 55S and from 70W (coast of South America), where the region of confluence between the subtropical and subpolar waters is located, represented by the Brazil and Malvinas currents, to 20E (coast of South Africa). (AU)

Scientific publications

(5)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CLAUZET‚ G.; WAINER‚ I.; LAZAR‚ A.; BRADY‚ E.; OTTO-BLIESNER‚ B.. A numerical study of the South Atlantic circulation at the Last Glacial Maximum. PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY, v. 253, n. 3, p. 509-528, 2007. (00/02958-7, 01/04920-0)

WAINER‚ I.; CLAUZET‚ G.; SERVAIN‚ J.; SOARES‚ J.. Time scales of upper ocean temperature variability inferred from the PIRATA data (1997-2000). Geophysical Research Letters, v. 30, n. 5, p. 8004, 2003. (00/02958-7, 98/13397-4)

WAINER‚ A.T.E.I.. A influência dos gases estufa no Oceano Atlântico Sul: Variabilidade Interanual. Revista Brasileira de Meteorologia, v. 20, n. 1, p. 105-120, 2005. (02/01211-0, 00/02958-7)

SOLOMON‚ A.; WAINER‚ I.. Pacific tropical-extratropical thermocline water mass exchanges in the NCAR Coupled Climate System Model v. 3. Ocean Modelling, v. 15, n. 3, p. 218-235, 2006. (00/02958-7)

WAINER, I.; TASCHETTO, A. S.; OTTO-BLIESNER, B.; BRADY, E.. A numerical study of the impact of greenhouse gases on the South Atlantic Ocean climatology. Climatic Change, v. 66, n. 1, p. 163-189, Sept. 2004. (02/01211-0, 00/02958-7)