scholarly journals III. The circulation of the surface waters of the north atlantic ocean

The history of our knowledge of the currents of the North Atlantic Ocean up to the year 1870 has been written once for all by Petermann (I), who in that year published a memoir maintaining, contrary to the opinion of Findlay, Blunt, and Carpenter, that eastern and northern extensions of the Gulf Stream were the prime factors in the circulation. Petermann subjected practically the whole of the material in the way of observations then extant to an exhaustive critical examination, and came to conclusions which are worth quoting, in the summary, inasmuch as the observations of the twenty succeeding years did not seriously modify them :— 1. The hot source and core of the Gulf Stream extends from the Strait of Florida, along the North American coast at all times.... up to the 37th degree of northern latitude.

1900 ◽  
Vol 66 (424-433) ◽  
pp. 484-485

In this paper an attempt is made to investigate the normal circulation of the surface waters of the Atlantic Ocean north of 40° N. lat., and its changes, by means of a series of synoptic charts showing the distribution of temperature and salinity over the area for each month of the two years 1896 and 1897.


Ocean Science ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Candille ◽  
J.-M. Brankart ◽  
P. Brasseur

Abstract. A realistic circulation model of the North Atlantic ocean at 0.25° resolution (NATL025 NEMO configuration) has been adapted to explicitly simulate model uncertainties. This is achieved by introducing stochastic perturbations in the equation of state to represent the effect of unresolved scales on the model dynamics. The main motivation for this work is to develop ensemble data assimilation methods, assimilating altimetric data from past missions Jason-1 and Envisat. The assimilation experiment is designed to provide a description of the uncertainty associated with the Gulf Stream circulation for years 2005/2006, focusing on frontal regions which are predominantly affected by unresolved dynamical scales. An ensemble based on such stochastic perturbations is first produced and evaluated using along-track altimetry observations. Then each ensemble member is updated by a square root algorithm based on the SEEK (singular evolutive extended Kalman) filter (Brasseur and Verron, 2006). These three elements – stochastic parameterization, ensemble simulation and 4-D observation operator – are then used together to perform a 4-D analysis of along-track altimetry over 10-day windows. Finally, the results of this experiment are objectively evaluated using the standard probabilistic approach developed for meteorological applications (Toth et al., 2003; Candille et al., 2007). The results show that the free ensemble – before starting the assimilation process – correctly reproduces the statistical variability over the Gulf Stream area: the system is then pretty reliable but not informative (null probabilistic resolution). Updating the free ensemble with altimetric data leads to a better reliability with an information gain of around 30% (for 10-day forecasts of the SSH variable). Diagnoses on fully independent data (i.e. data that are not assimilated, like temperature and salinity profiles) provide more contrasted results when the free and updated ensembles are compared.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 1150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Rodríguez-Díaz ◽  
Inés Álvarez ◽  
Moncho Gómez-Gesteira ◽  
Fran Santos

Lagrangian trajectories of passive particles were simulated using velocity fields provided by the Simple Ocean Data Assimilation model to determine changes in their probability of crossing the North Atlantic Ocean during the period 1899–2010. Particles were released in the Straits of Florida, where the Gulf Stream is the main driving force. The results showed that eddy kinetic energy increased along the Gulf Stream path, which enhanced connectivity across the Atlantic. The time for water parcels (passive tracers) to cross the North Atlantic Ocean has shortened in the past century, with a minimum crossing period of 6–7 months and a decreasing trend ranging from –0.15 to –0.40 months per decade.


2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 3619-3628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoming Zhai ◽  
Luke Sheldon

Abstract The upper-ocean heat content of the North Atlantic has undergone significant changes over the last 50 years but the underlying physical mechanisms are not yet well understood. In the present study, the authors examine the North Atlantic ocean heat content change in the upper 700 m between the 1955–70 and 1980–95 periods. Consistent with previous studies, the large-scale pattern consists of warming of the tropics and subtropics and cooling of the subpolar ocean. However, this study finds that the most significant heat content change in the North Atlantic during these two time periods is the warming of the Gulf Stream region. Numerical experiments strongly suggest that this warming in the Gulf Stream region is largely driven by changes of the large-scale wind forcing. Furthermore, the increased ocean heat content in the Gulf Stream region appears to feedback on to the atmosphere, resulting in warmer surface air temperature and enhanced precipitation there.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2647-2690 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Candille ◽  
J. M. Brankart ◽  
P. Brasseur

Abstract. A realistic circulation model of the North Atlantic ocean at 1/4° resolution (NATL025 NEMO configuration) has been adapted to explicitly simulate model uncertainties. This is achieved by introducing stochastic perturbations in the equation of state to represent the effect of unresolved scales on the model dynamics. The main motivation for this work is to develop ensemble data assimilation methods, assimilating altimetric data from past missions JASON-1 and ENVISAT. The assimilation experiment is designed to better control the Gulf Stream circulation for years 2005/06, focusing on frontal regions which are predominantly affected by unresolved dynamical scales. An ensemble based on such stochastic perturbations is first produced and evaluated using along-track altimetry observations. The Incremental Analysis Update (IAU) scheme is applied in order to obtain an ensemble of continuous trajectories all over the 2005/06 assimilation period. These three elements – stochastic parameterization, ensemble simulation and 4-D observation operator – are then used together to perform a 4-D analysis of along-track altimetry over 10 day windows. Finally, the results of this experiment are objectively evaluated using the standard probabilistic approach developed for meteorological applications (Toth et al., 2003; Candille et al., 2007). The results show that the free ensemble – before starting the assimilation process – correctly reproduces the statistical variability over the Gulf Stream area: the system is then pretty reliable but not informative (null probabilistic resolution). Updating the free ensemble with altimetric data leads to a better reliability with an information gain around 30% (for 10 day forecasts of the SSH variable). Diagnoses on fully independent data (i.e. data that are not assimilated, like temperature and salinity profiles) provide more contrasted results when the free and updated ensembles are compared.


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