earth science

Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program

Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program rather than just read about it. In short: The Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP) is an international project designed to study the mechanistic link between water mass transformation at high latitudes and the meridional overturning circulation in the North Atlantic (AMOC) on interannual time scales. Though this linkage is evident in climate models on decadal time scales, to date there has been no clear demonstration of AMOC variabilit…

Key takeaways

Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP) is an international project designed to study the mechanistic link between water mass transformation at high latitudes and the meridional overturning circulation in the North Atlantic (AMOC) on interannual time scales. Though this linkage is evident in climate models on decadal time scales, to date there has been no clear demonstration of AMOC variability in response to changes in deep water formation on interannual and decadal time scales. OSNAP intends to fill that gap by providing a continuous record of the trans-basin fluxes of heat, mass and freshwater for a comparison to records of convective activity and water mass transformation at high latitudes in the North Atlantic. The OSNAP observing system, fully deployed in the summer of 2014, consists of moorings, gliders and RAFOS floats spanning the subpolar North Atlantic from Labrador to Greenland to Scotland. Measurement contributions come from the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, China and France. Vigorous boundary currents crossing the OSNAP line are directly measured in the Labrador and Irminger Seas by current meter arrays, and over the eastern flank of the Reykjanes Ridge by deep arrays. Geostrophic currents in the basin interior are estimated using temperature and salinity measurements from moorings and gliders. The AMOC is calculated on the basis of the directly measured boundary currents, the geostrophic currents and the Ekman transports estimated from the surface wind stress. In conjunction with the RAPID/MOCHA array at 26⁰N, the EU THOR/NACLIM program and other observational elements, OSNAP will provide a comprehensive measure of the three-dimensional AMOC in the North Atlantic and an understanding of what drives its variability. The first OSNAP data products are expected in the fall of 2017.

See also Thermohaline circulation RAPID/MOCHA Array Rapid Climate Change-Meridional Overturning Circulation and Heatflux Array RAFOS float Geostrophic current

External links OSNAP http://www.o-snap.org RAPID/MOCHA http://www.rapid.ac.uk/rapidmoc/ EU THOR/NACLIM http://www.eu-thor.eu/index.php?id=1994 ATLAS http://www.eu-atlas.org

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program

In research: Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Oceanographic organizations, Physical oceanography, Water masses, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program in simple terms?

Why does Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program.