Assessing Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) Variability: Implications for Rapid Climate Change
FY 2008 Information Sheet
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The U.S. CLIVAR Interagency Group, consisting of program managers from NOAA, NASA and NSF - facilitated by the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office - have been working to develop a new interagency program that, together with activities from the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), will develop the initial components of an experimental Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) monitoring and prediction capability. The recent report "Charting The Course For Ocean Science In The United States For The Next Decade: An Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy" (NSTC Joint Subcommittee On Ocean Science And Technology; January 26, 2007) - http://ocean.ceq.gov/about/sup_jsost_prioritiesplan.html - highlights this effort as one of its four near-term priorities. The AMOC near-term priority is designed to take advantage of rapidly advancing observing and assimilation capabilities as well as leverage substantial international investment.
An AMOC Planning Team was established in May 2007 to develop an Implementation Strategy for the AMOC near-term priority. The document is now available at the U.S. CLIVAR website at http://www.usclivar.org. After considerable discussion with the lead program managers comprising the AMOC Interagency Group (NOAA, NASA and NSF) regarding agency interests, priorities and overall programmatic balance, NOAA will focus on the following high-priority topics for FY2008 AMOC funding:
- The assembly and analysis of observed historical Atlantic Ocean data sets with an aim toward defining a multivariate AMOC "fingerprint" (characteristic signature associated with AMOC fluctuations)
- Describing and characterizing the history of AMOC variability using observations and models from the instrumental period
- The assessment of AMOC predictability
Letters of intent (LOIs) should highlight the contribution of the proposed activities to the objectives and expected outcomes of the AMOC program. NOAA anticipates its future support for the AMOC program will not be limited to these areas; however, in FY2008 LOIs must address the relevance to the aforementioned priorities.
Timeline for the NOAA FY2008 Announcement of Opportunity
Letters of Intent Due: November 2, 2007 (with responses from program management by November 7, 2007)
Proposals Due: December 7, 2007 (5 pm; eastern standard time)
Funding Start Date: August 1, 2008
For additional information, investigators should contact James Todd (james.todd@noaa.gov, 301-734-1258, fax: 301-713-0518).
