A monitoring system for heat and mass transports in the South Atlantic as a component of the Meridional Overturning Circulation

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A monitoring system for heat and mass transports
in the South Atlantic as a component of the
Meridional Overturning Circulation Estancia San
Ceferino, Buenos Aires, Argentina May 8, 9, and
10, 2007
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Objectives
The main objective of this workshop is to get
together scientists with current or proposed
programs in the South Atlantic to foster
collaborations leading to the establishment of a
monitoring system for meridional heat and mass
transports in the South Atlantic and inter-ocean
exchanges as a component of the Meridional
Overturning Circulation. The idea is to build
upon what is already in place and to form
international partnerships to augment the
capabilities and therefore improve the results.
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PROGRAM Breakfast 7AM to 830 AM Coffee
Breaks 1030 to 1045 AM 300 to 315
PM Lunch 1200 to 0130 PM Dinner 8PM
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Proposed Agenda
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• Tuesday May 8, 9 AM to 1200 Noon
• Session 1
• Introduction and objectives of the Workshop
  (Garzoli)
• AMOC as a US Ocean Priority (Lindstrom)
• Messages from Mike Johnson and Jim Todd
  (Garzoli)
• The Aquarius/SAC-D Program (Lagerdof, Colomb)
• Argo (Piotrowicz)
• The South Atlantic Circulation and its role in
  Climate (Piola)
• Inter-ocean exchanges. Large scale observations
  and models (Speich)
• Will slowing of the MOC warm or cool Europe?
  (Nof)
• The impacts of changes in the MOC on the south
  Atlantic climate and variability (Campos)

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• Session 2 Inter-ocean and Inter-hemispheric
  exchanges
• This session will have the following format.
• Participants will be invited to make short (3 to
  4 slides) presentations leading to answer the
  following questions for each of the three topics
  above
• Methodologies
• What observations are in place?
• What observations are proposed?
• What is the objective of each one of the
  programs?
• What are the observations telling us?
• Can these plans be integrated to build an
  ocean-scale observing network/experiment?
• What validation of models has already been done
  in the region?
• What are the models telling us?

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Session 2.1 Inter-ocean exchanges
Pacific/Atlantic Session 2.2 Inter-ocean
exchanges Indian/Atlantic Session 2.3 Meridional
inter-hemispheric fluxes
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• Session 3
• Three participants will de assigned to make a
  15-minute summary presentation on Sessions 2.1,
  2.2 and 2.3 (methodologies, models and
  observations).
• Creation of three working groups according to
  the (three) topics of session 2
• Discussion
• Are the current monitoring efforts sufficient?
  What else is needed?
• How to coordinate modeling and observational
  efforts?
• How build a coherent program from the various
  observational and modeling efforts

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Session 4 (1200 noon to 5 PM) Plenary. The
design of an experiment for monitoring the SA
component of the MOC. Review of the three
groups General discussion and deliberations Assign
ments to write a plan. Adjourn 1700 PM Thursday
May 10
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(No Transcript)
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Ocean Climate Observation Program
Request to The SAMOC Workshop Buenos Aires,
Argentina 8-10 May 2007 Mike Johnson Director,
Ocean Climate Observation Program
photo courtesy of MeteoFrance
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Introduction to the OCO
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Ocean Climate Observation
Program Mission Build and sustain a global
climate observing system that will respond to the
long-term observational requirements of the
operational forecast centers, international
research programs, and major scientific
assessments. Focus on the in situ
Ocean component.
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Fundamental Climate Requirements

• Document long term trends in sea level change
• Document ocean carbon sources and sinks
• Document the oceans storage and global transport
  of heat and fresh water
• Document the ocean-atmosphere exchange of heat
  and fresh water

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Capabilities Required

• Global coverage by moored and drifting buoy
  arrays, profiling floats, tide gauge stations,
  bottom-mounted and ship-based systems.
• Continuous satellite missions for sea surface
  temperature, sea surface height, surface vector
  wind, ocean color, and sea ice.
• Data and assimilation subsystems.
• System management and product delivery.

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Special request to the SAMOC Workshop
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• A sustained global observing system is the
  foundation of all climate research and services.
• A global system by definition crosses
  international boundaries with potential for both
  benefits and responsibilities to be shared by
  many nations.
• Climate models predict that changes in global
  ocean circulation may trigger epic changes in
  Earths heat exchange between the tropics and the
  higher latitudes, resulting in rapid climate
  change.
• NOAA, the U.S., and the World need a global ocean
  observing system capable of delivering continuous
  near-real-time measurements that will provide
• Data sets for model validation and quantitative
  assurance that the model projections can be
  reasonably accepted or rejected.
• Quantitative ocean indicators at a few strategic
  locations, to alert the nation and the world if
  major changes are occurring.
• In order to effectively support advancement of
  the global ocean observing system, the OCO needs
• Scientific advice defining the best next-steps
  toward fielding the required sustained ocean
  observation and analysis system.

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Thank You
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Message from Jim Todd
Please mention that we are in the next phase of
our planning for the FY08 ORPP near-term priority
on AMOC. Potential funding for NOAA is 5M in
FY08, but this of course has to be blessed by
Congress this summer. NSF has also been
identified for funding in FY08, but we do not yet
know who (i.e., which programs) would benefit.
NASA, unfortunately, did not get funding for this
activity in FY08, but we hope that they will in
the out-years. I wish everyone well at the
meeting. If there was one request to the group -
and I realize that this is very difficult to do -
I would like to see people not pitch only their
pet-rocks. We need to have credible input as
agency program managers. If it looks like a
laundry list of requests for funding, our efforts
in pushing an AMOC initiative will undoubtedly
fail. People should challenge each other's
point-of-view in order that we get the best
product out of this workshop. Thanks for the
opportunity to comment. Please have a big, juicy
Argentine steak for me (and a nice bottle of
Malbec)! Best regards, Jim
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(No Transcript)
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Message from Arnold Gordon Silvia- You might
want to come out of your 'Estancia San Ceferino'
meeting with a concise statement of lt1 page
concerning the South Atlantic's active role in
maintaining the Atlantic MOC. Clearly the
S.Atlantic subtropical gyre salinity would be
very different if its Sverdrup transport were
closed by the low salinity South Atlantic Current
rather than Indian Ocean subtropical salt
introduced by the Agulhas leakage. The Agulhas
leakage pre-conditions the Atlantic as a site of
major MOC. Its change in paleo-times seems linked
with the Atlantic MOC intensity. On a more
speculative level, there may also be fluctuations
in the pathways perhaps involving the
Brazil-Malvinas Confluence followed by Pacific
water entering the Atlantic via the Drake Passage
that could alter the Atlantic salinity. Another
aspect is how the South Atlantic and North
Atlantic waters maneuver their way across the
zonal circulation and upwelling fields of the
tropics. The statement should be independent of
whatever monitoring strategy you come up with.
Its intent is to make clear the underling science
questions, so that NSF and NOAA do not neglect
the Atlantic at, or south of the Equator. I
would hope that they would entertain not just in
situ ocean monitoring and research projects in
the South Atlantic, but also further
ocean/climate modeling and paleo-climate research
to do with interocean exchange and cross
equatorial transport relevant to the MOC. I
would gladly 'sign' and help draft such a
statement. Arnold