Evaluating Coherence and Connectivity of the AMOC and Interocean Exchanges in the South Atlantic Using Observations and Models

This research effort will start to characterize the mean and time varying pathways of the AMOC in the South Atlantic, and to evaluate the correlation between the AMOC strength and the meridional heat transport. To achieve this objective a combination of in situ and satellite data and model simulations will be analyzed. The motivation for focusing on the South Atlantic is threefold. First, the South Atlantic is unique as a region where oceanic properties are exchanged, mixed, and redistributed between oceans. Second, the South Atlantic is the only major ocean basin that transports heat from the poles towards the equator, strongly influenced by and influencing the surface limb of the AMOC. Third, past efforts to understand the role of the South Atlantic in the AMOC have been hampered by the limited number of observations available.