General circulation, mesoscale and internal tides interactions along the Brazilian coast : insights from model, in situ data, altimetry, SAR and SWOT
SWOT-Brésil contributes to the SWOT mission, addressing scientific questions relative to this new mission before the launch scheduled in 2022, then during both the Cal/Val 1-day repeat orbit phase, and the 21-days repeat orbit science mission. This projects aims at studying the mesoscale, submesoscale and internal wave (IW) dynamics in the Western Tropical Atlantic. First over the full area of interest: the West Tropical Atlantic from 25°S to 15°N, and from 20°W to the Brazilian coast. And zooming in parallel on two dedicated areas: the Amazon Plateau and the Abrolhos Bank / Vitoria-Trinidade Ridge. Both zones are subject to the tropical Atlantic western boundary current system constrained by the topography of the continental shelf.
Moreover, during the last decade, collaborations have been settled between France and the Brazilian oceanography community, and more particularly between the OMP/LEGOS and the Brazilian Federal Universities in the NordEste. The satellite and modelling expertise is strong in the French side, while Brazil has accumulated a large historical and regional expertise over one of the less studied western boundary current system over the world. Hence there is a mutual benefit in collaborating, fully supported by the IRD partnership and building capacity strategy in South America.
contact: Fabrice Hernandez