ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to simultaneously characterize the structure and variability of the South Atlantic (SA) circulation and the South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (SAMOC) for the period 1958–2008. It uses the results of a state-of-the-art data assimilating model. The model main water masses in the SA ocean are represented which shows a meridional cross-section at 25°W of potential temperature and salinity. Our knowledge of the temporal variability in the SA circulation is more limited than that of its mean circulation. A more recent analysis suggests an increase of the Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) of the SA's subtropical gyre and a decrease of the salinity of the region around 40°S. Observation-based estimates of the SAMOC are largely based on hydrographic sections. The model is constrained by observed temperature and salinity profiles using a sequential assimilation algorithm. The chapter discusses the water masses and the time-mean horizontal and meridional overturning circulation obtained from the model results.
