Study of the ocean-atmosphere interaction from the heat fluxes associated with mesoscale processes in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

INES M LEYBA; MARTIN SARACENO; SILVINA SOLMAN

Workshop; SAMOC-ICTP Workshop on South Atlantic circulation variability and change: integrating models and observations; 2014

The ocean and atmosphere are strongly related. The ocean is an important source of energy for the atmosphere circulation which is in turn the main forcing of surface circulation of the oceans. Heat fluxes between the ocean and atmosphere represent the link between both. A possible mechanism of interaction is generated by mesoscale ocean eddies. However, there is almost no previous works that have explore the possible influence of these eddies on the atmosphere in the Southwestern Atlantic (SWA). This work is based on the hypothesis that processes such as fronts and eddies can significantly affect the fluxes between the ocean and atmosphere in the SWA. The validation of this hypothesis will improve the understanding of the role that eddies have on the atmosphere in this particular region .