Low frequency variability in the Southern Ocean

Project aim

Project title: "Effects of variability in ocean surface forcing on the properties of SAMW and AAIW in the South Indian Ocean" This project will study the formation and subduction processes and the properties of Antarctic Intermediate Water and Sub-Antarctic Mode Water as simulated by an Ocean General Circulation model, with particular reference to the South Indian Ocean. The study will attempt to determine how its formation and properties are affected by interannual variations in SST and wind forcing and by differing prescriptions of mixing and convection processes occurring in mid- to high latitude oceanic frontal regions of the Southern Ocean. The investigation of the ocean response in the Indian Ocean will profit from the use of a model employing general orthogonal coordinates and efficient variable resolution grids which are global but concentrated in the Indian sector.