Dynamics of the continental shelf in the Tropical region off Brazil

Piero Mazzini; Carlos A.F. Schettini and Ernesto Domingues

This work is being developed in collaboration with scientists from the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil. The major objective is to understand which mechanisms drive the circulation and water masses variability in a poorly studied region: the tropical continental shelf off the Brazilian coast.

We focus on the roles of winds, tides, river discharge, and how the meso- and large-scale circulation of the adjacent deep ocean affects the currents and water masses over the shelf. The observational component consists of high-resolution surveys of hydrographic properties and deployment of moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs), supplemented by satellite remote sensing data and numerical models.