CALCULATING THE MERIDIONAL VOLUME, HEAT AND FRESHWATER TRANSPORTS FROM AN OBSERVING SYSTEM IN THE SUBPOLAR NORTH ATLANTIC: OBSERVING SYSTEM SIMULATION EXPERIMENT

Abstract

transbasin monitoring array from Labrador to Scotland was deployed in the summer of 2014 as part of the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP). The aim of the observing system is to provide a multi-year continuous measure of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and the associated meridional heat (MHT) and freshwater transports (MFT) in the subpolar North Atlantic. Results from the array are expected to improve our understanding of the variability of the subpolar transports as well as the nature and degree of the MOC?s latitudinal dependence. In this present work, we describe the measurements of the OSNAP array and use a suite of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) in an eddy-permitting numerical model (ORCA025) to assess how well these measurements will estimate the fluxes across the OSNAP section. The OSSE results suggest that the OSNAP array and calculation methods will adequately capture the mean and temporal variability of the MOC, MHT and MFT across the subpolar North Atlantic.