Diagnosing Overturning and Water Mass Transformation in the Labrador Sea From Argo Floats

从 Argo 浮标诊断拉布拉多海的倾覆和水体转变

• 批准号: 1459474
• 负责人: James Holte
• 金额: $ 16.12万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-03-15 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1459474&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Diagnosing; Overturning; Water; Mass; Transformation

The sinking of cold, saline water at high latitudes in the Atlantic Ocean and its spread along the sea floor, which is balanced by the return flow of warmer waters at the surface, is known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). It plays an important role in maintaining Earth?s climate as well as key ocean properties. Labrador Sea overturning is a key component of AMOC, but its magnitude and variability has been difficult to measure accurately. This study will explore whether float observations can be used as a cost-effective way to answer such questions. The project has the potential to enhance and quantify our understanding of the connection between dense water formation and overturning circulation in the Labrador Sea and lead to an improved strategy for continued AMOC sampling. Information from the study will improve understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of Labrador Sea overturning and export on interannual and decadal timescales. A quality-controlled data set will be available online and incorporated into undergraduate and graduate classes. The project will also support a post doc and facilitate his transition to a more permanent position.The Labrador Sea's contribution to the AMOC is relatively unknown and the potential change between the 1900s and 2000s is still uncertain. The primary objective of the project is to quantify the Labrador Sea?s contribution to the AMOC using profiling floats. The mean overturning calculated in a preliminary analysis is in line with previous estimates, suggesting that floats are a viable dataset for examining these aspects of the Labrador Sea. The project will be part of a large ongoing effort to understand AMOC over the next few years and complement OSNAP moored data. Argo and PALACE floats in the Labrador Sea and boundary current have collected data for the past two decades. The Argo floats offer seasonal and spatial data coverage at the basin-wide scale. PALACE floats data from the 1990s allows the opportunity to compare Labrador Sea overturning from two different periods; one of enhanced deep convection in the 1990s, and weaker convection in the 2000s.

大西洋高纬度地区冷盐水的下沉及其沿着海底的扩散，被表面温暖的沃茨的回流所平衡，被称为大西洋纬向翻转环流（AMOC）。它在维护地球上发挥着重要作用。的气候以及主要的海洋属性。拉布拉多海倾覆是AMOC的一个重要组成部分，但其幅度和变化一直难以准确测量。本研究将探讨浮动观测是否可以作为一种具有成本效益的方式来回答这些问题。该项目有可能提高和量化我们对拉布拉多海密集水形成和翻转循环之间联系的理解，并导致持续AMOC采样的改进策略。 这项研究的信息将提高对拉布拉多海翻转和出口年际和十年时间尺度上的空间和时间变化的理解。一个质量控制的数据集将在网上提供，并纳入本科生和研究生课程。该项目还将支持一个博士后，并促进他过渡到一个更永久的位置。拉布拉多海对AMOC的贡献相对未知，20世纪初和21世纪初之间的潜在变化仍然不确定。该项目的主要目标是量化拉布拉多海？的贡献AMOC使用剖析浮动。在初步分析中计算的平均倾覆与以前的估计一致，这表明浮子是检查拉布拉多海这些方面的可行数据集。该项目将是未来几年了解AMOC并补充OSNAP系泊数据的大规模持续努力的一部分。过去二十年来，拉布拉多海和边界流中的Argo和PALACE浮标收集了数据。阿尔戈浮标提供全流域范围的季节和空间数据。从20世纪90年代的PALACE浮标数据允许的机会，比较拉布拉多海翻转从两个不同的时期;在20世纪90年代增强深对流之一，并在21世纪初较弱的对流。