Directive cadre sur l’eau - Bassin Loire-Bretagne. Contrôle de surveillance dans les masses d’eau côtières et de transition. Actions menées par Ifremer en 2014

Le contrôle de surveillance 2014 pour la DCE appliquée dans les eaux littorales de Loire Bretagne a porté sur les 25 masses d’eau côtières (sur 39 au total) et les 16 masses d’eau de transition (sur 30 au total) retenues au titre du contrôle de surveillance. L’ensemble des résultats acquis, aussi bien sur les paramètres biologiques que chimiques, a permis de mettre à jour l’évaluation de l’état des masses d’eau affiché sur l’atlas DCE accessible sur la page web d’Envlit correspondante.

Oceanic control of multidecadal variability in an idealized coupled GCM

Idealized ocean models are known to develop intrinsic multidecadal oscillations of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC). Here we explore the role of ocean–atmosphere interactions on this low-frequency variability. We use a coupled ocean–atmosphere model set up in a flat-bottom aquaplanet geometry with two meridional boundaries. The model is run at three different horizontal resolutions (4°, 2° and 1°) in both the ocean and atmosphere. At all resolutions, the MOC exhibits spontaneous variability on multidecadal timescales in the range 30–40 years, associated with the propagation of large-scale baroclinic Rossby waves across the Atlantic-like basin. The unstable region of growth of these waves through the long wave limit of baroclinic instability shifts from the eastern boundary at coarse resolution to the western boundary at higher resolution. Increasing the horizontal resolution enhances both intrinsic atmospheric variability and ocean–atmosphere interactions. In particular, the simulated atmospheric annular mode becomes significantly correlated to the MOC variability at 1° resolution. An ocean-only simulation conducted for this specific case underscores the disruptive but not essential influence of air–sea interactions on the low-frequency variability. This study demonstrates that an atmospheric annular mode leading MOC changes by about 2 years (as found at 1° resolution) does not imply that the low-frequency variability originates from air–sea interactions.