Annual Cycle and Variability of the North Brazil Current

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Abstract
Current meter observations from an array of three subsurface moorings located on the Brazil continental slope near 4°N are used to describe the annual cycle and low-frequency variability of the North Brazil Current (NBC). The moored array was deployed from September 1989 to January 1991, with further extension of the shallowest mooring, located over the 500-m isobath near the axis of the NBC, through September 1991. Moored current measurements were also obtained over the adjacent shelf for a limited time between February and May 1990. The NBC has a large annual cycle at this latitude, ranging from a maximum transport of 36 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) in July–August to a minimum of 13 Sv in April–May, with an annual mean transport of approximately 26 Sv. The mean transport is dominated by flow in the upper 150 m, and the seasonal cycle is contained almost entirely in the top 300 m. Transport over the continental shelf is 3–5 Sv and appears to be fairly constant throughout the year, based on the available... Abstract Current meter observations from an array of three subsurface moorings located on the Brazil continental slope near 4°N are used to describe the annual cycle and low-frequency variability of the North Brazil Current (NBC). The moored array was deployed from September 1989 to January 1991, with further extension of the shallowest mooring, located over the 500-m isobath near the axis of the NBC, through September 1991. Moored current measurements were also obtained over the adjacent shelf for a limited time between February and May 1990. The NBC has a large annual cycle at this latitude, ranging from a maximum transport of 36 Sv (Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) in July–August to a minimum of 13 Sv in April–May, with an annual mean transport of approximately 26 Sv. The mean transport is dominated by flow in the upper 150 m, and the seasonal cycle is contained almost entirely in the top 300 m. Transport over the continental shelf is 3–5 Sv and appears to be fairly constant throughout the year, based on the available...

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