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Details of Award

NERC Reference : NE/F00236X/1

Adjoint sensitivity of sea-level and inter-basin transports to surface forcing and circulation anomalies in present and future climates

Grant Award

Principal Investigator:
Professor DP Marshall, University of Oxford, Oxford Physics
Co-Investigator:
Professor HL Johnson, University of Oxford, Earth Sciences
Science Area:
Marine
Overall Classification:
Marine
ENRIs:
Global Change
Environmental Risks and Hazards
Science Topics:
Ocean Circulation
Ocean - Atmosphere Interact.
Climate & Climate Change
Abstract:
Sea level rise is one of the few undisputed elements of future climate change to which we are already committed regardless of future emissions scenario. Projections for regional sea level change over the next century are similar in magnitude to those for global sea level rise. Yet there are wide discrepancies between model projections of its pattern, amplitude and the underlying causes. The broad aim of this project is to determine the sensitivities of regional sea level changes, and associated changes in ocean circulation, to surface fluxes of heat, freshwater and momentum, to remote circulation anomalies, and to uncertain model parameters. These sensitivities will be determined for both the present climate and various future climate scenarios. We will use a state of the art ocean model and its so-called 'adjoint' to efficiently determine these sensitivities. In contrast to traditional modelling studies, in which a large number of experiments must be performed to determine the sensitivity of a model output to model inputs, the adjoint model provides each of these sensitivities from just a single model run. The project is timely in that it addresses key issues identified in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change report, released last month, concerning uncertainties in projections of sea level change and circulation. It also draws on the expertise and success that the team has built up in using the ocean model and its adjoint through a current NERC-funded project to attribute changes observed in the overturning circulation in the Atlantic to local and remote surface forcing.
Period of Award:
1 Oct 2008 - 31 Mar 2012
Value:
£411,347
Authorised funds only
NERC Reference:
NE/F00236X/1
Grant Stage:
Completed
Scheme:
Standard Grant (FEC)
Grant Status:
Closed
Programme:
Standard Grant

This grant award has a total value of £411,347  

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FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)

DI - Other CostsIndirect - Indirect CostsDA - InvestigatorsException - StaffDA - Estate CostsDI - StaffDI - T&S
£33,702£115,760£41,888£67,407£47,881£96,363£8,347

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