The oceanic and atmospheric anomalies study over the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence region

• Grant number: 07/06782-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2008
• End date: February 28, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Physical Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Ponzi Pezzi
• Grantee: Isabel Porto da Silveira
• Host Institution: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) besides many international institutions has started on March 2007 the International Polar Year (IPY) which will last until 2009. This is a world-wide scientific initiative which focuses on global climatic changes and the role of the polar, sub-polar regions and their tele-connections with natural systems and the anthropogenic impacts. The Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (BMC) region is known as one of the most energetic zones of the World Ocean, and it has a strong influence on the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) over the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. This oceanic region is characterized by the convergence of distinct water masses. The Brazilian Current, salty and warm, meets the cold fresh Malvinas Current over that region and origins the BMC. This convergence is marked by the strong gradients and surface anomalies on the sea surface temperature. This Project aims to study the dynamics and thermodynamics of the ocean and atmosphere at the BMC region and their relationship with the high latitude environment. The connections between high and lower latitudes might be the cause of the generation and anomalies maintenance verified on the Atlantic Southwestern surface temperature and currents. We intend to use atmospheric and oceanic re-analysis data and a numerical model, to investigate the BMC anomalies and the tele-connections with physical forcing generated on the high latitudes. In order to do that, we propose to do a set of sensitivity experiments using different boundary conditions on the Modular Ocean Model-4 (MOM-4). It is aimed to understand the physical processes of the heat content as well as the interaction of this region with the atmosphere at the BMC region. (AU)

Scientific publications

(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)

DA SILVEIRA, ISABEL PORTO; PEZZI, LUCIANO PONZI. Sea surface temperature anomalies driven by oceanic local forcing in the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence. OCEAN DYNAMICS, v. 64, n. 3, p. 347-360, MAR 2014. (07/06782-0)