Drivers and impacts of North Atlantic freshwater and heat fluxes unsettling modern-day climate

DIMSUM forms part of the wider Climate Consequences of Rapid Ocean Changes (CCROC) programme.

It specifically addresses Challenge 2 on determining heat and freshwater budgets of the North Atlantic Ocean using observations and models. However, DIMSUM goes beyond the mere quantification of budgets by focussing on dynamics and mechanisms that drive changes in the coupled ice-ocean-atmosphere system in the wider Arctic – North Atlantic region.

Website: N/A

PI: Prof. Yueng-Djern Lenn Bangor University

Email: y.lenn@bangor.ac.uk

NOC Contact: Marilena Oltmanns

Email: marilena.oltmanns@noc.ac.uk

Project Dates:

October 2023 to March 2026

Funding:

NERC – Strategic Research

Project

Aim

DIMSUM aims at quantifying heat and freshwater budgets, using observations, model-data synthesis (ASTE) and coupled models. It further strives to elucidate mechanisms that drive changes in heat and freshwater budgets. Lastly, it seeks to assess the impacts of ocean heat and freshwater change on large-scale weather and climate in the North Atlantic region.

Throughout the analyses, DIMSUM puts particular emphasis on processes that involve thresholds and that could potentially give rise to rapid, or nonlinear climate responses. NOC is involved in all parts of the project and is leading the objective to assess impacts of ocean heat and freshwater changes on large-scale weather and climate.

People

NOC Staff involved:

Dr Marilena Oltmanns

Project PI: Prof. Yueng-Djern Lenn Bangor University y.lenn@bangor.ac.uk