Investigation of the Physical Process Associated with the Impacts of the South Atlantic Dipole in the South America

• Grant number: 17/25110-4
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Physical Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Edmo José Dias Campos
• Grantee: Wlademir Jose de Santis Junior
• Home Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/09659-6 - Interannual variability of the meridional transports across the SAMOC basin-wide array (SAMBAR), AP.TEM

Abstract

This postdoctoral project is presented within the context of the Thematic Project Interannual Variability of the Meridional Transports across the SAMOC Basin-wide Array (SAMBAR), funded by the FAPESP. It is proposed the investigation of the physical processes associated with the impacts of the South Atlantic Dipole (SAD) on both the atmospheric circulation and precipitation in the South America. The existence of impacts due to the DAS on the South America presents a strong scientific backgroud, which mostly suggests that the SAD is directly associated with extremes wether conditions in the southeastern Brazil, its most populated and economically active region. However, uncertainties remain regarding aspects of the SAD impacts, mostly associated with the use of inadequate numerical models that neglect the coupled nature of the SAD. By recognizing this issue, it is proposed to produce a series of numerical experiments with the Massachusetts Institute of Thecnology General Circulation Model (MITgcm), using both its coupled version (ocean-atmosphere-lad-sea ice) and its atmospheric-only version. With these experiments, three main goals are pursued: (i)- investigate how the SAD impacts on both the atmospheric circulation and precipitation in southwestern Brazil, using the coupled numerical model to reproduce the coupled nature of the SAD; (ii)- investigate the physical processes behind the impacts of the DAS, isolating the oceanic contribution to them; (iii)- analyze the results in an interdisciplinary way, projecting the precipitation anomalies on the major hydrographic basins of Brazil, specially those relevant to the water supply for human activities in the state of Sao Paulo.