Shelf/Deep-Ocean Frontal Interaction in the Southwestern Atlantic

南大西洋盆地拥有南大洋中最大的叶绿素-a繁殖，这种优势可能与从西南大陆架地区抽取的高肥水的大陆架流动有关。该项目将调查这些大陆架外流在多大程度上受到两种截然不同的西部边界流——巴西流和马尔维纳斯流——与大陆架环流的相互作用的控制。允许分辨率的亚中尺度数值模拟将产生迄今为止最详细的环流描述。该项目还将通过就地和远程观测的新使用，促进西南大西洋大陆架环流的特征。这个项目的目标是描述西南大西洋区域大陆架和深海交换的特征。该项目将检验这样一种假设，即边界流通过向大陆架的北部和南部注入深海水和在锋面系统去除大陆架水来调节这些交换。将确定连接陆架与深海环流的动力机制。耦合系统的主要变率模态将被表征，并将研究这些模态对陆架和深海间物质交换的影响。分析将包括一套数值实验产生的数据以及现场观测和卫星数据，以建立对模型结果的信心。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The South Atlantic basin hosts the largest chlorophyll-a blooms of the Southern Ocean, dominance likely associated with off-shelf flows of highly fertilized waters drawn from the southwestern continental shelf region. This project will investigate the extent to which these continental shelf outflows are controlled by the interactions of two distinct western boundary currents, the Brazil and Malvinas currents, with the shelf circulation. The numerical simulations with sub-mesoscale permitting resolution will generate the most detailed description of the circulation to date. This project will also advance the characterization of the southwestern Atlantic shelf circulation through the novel use of in situ and remote observations.The goal of this project is to characterize the shelf and deep-ocean exchanges in the southwestern Atlantic region. The project will test the hypothesize that the boundary currents regulate these exchanges by injecting deep ocean waters onto the northern and southern portions of the shelf and detraining shelf waters at the frontal system. The dynamical mechanisms connecting the shelf to the deep-ocean circulation will be identified. The dominant modes of variability of the coupled system will be characterized and the influence of these modes on the mass exchanges between the shelf and the deep ocean will be investigated. The analyses will include data produced by a suite of numerical experiments along with in-situ observations and satellite data to establish confidence in the model results.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.