Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies
Mesoscale anticyclonic eddies in the Irminger Sea are observed using a mooring and a glider. Between 2002 and 2009, the mooring observed 53 anticyclones. Using a kinematic model, objective estimates of eddy length scales and velocity structure are made for 16 eddies. Anticyclones had a mean core dia...
Published in: | Journal of Physical Oceanography |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Amer Meteorological Soc
2013
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/22921.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-0155.1 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/ |
id |
ftarchimer:oai:archimer.ifremer.fr:24832 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftarchimer:oai:archimer.ifremer.fr:24832 2023-05-15T15:51:50+02:00 Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies Fan, Xue Send, Uwe Testor, Pierre Karstensen, Johannes Lherminier, Pascale 2013-04 application/pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/22921.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-0155.1 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/ eng eng Amer Meteorological Soc https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/22921.pdf doi:10.1175/JPO-D-11-0155.1 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/ 2013 American Meteorological Society info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use Journal Of Physical Oceanography (0022-3670) (Amer Meteorological Soc), 2013-04 , Vol. 43 , N. 4 , P. 805-823 North Atlantic Ocean Eddies Mesoscale processes text Publication info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2013 ftarchimer https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-0155.1 2021-09-23T20:23:00Z Mesoscale anticyclonic eddies in the Irminger Sea are observed using a mooring and a glider. Between 2002 and 2009, the mooring observed 53 anticyclones. Using a kinematic model, objective estimates of eddy length scales and velocity structure are made for 16 eddies. Anticyclones had a mean core diameter of 12 km, and their mean peak observed azimuthal speed was 0.1 m s(-1). They had core salinities and potential temperatures of 34.91-34.98 and 4.488-5.34 degrees C, respectively, making them warm and salty features. These properties represent a typical salinity anomaly of 0.03 and a temperature anomaly of 0.28 degrees C from noneddy values. All eddies had small (<< 1) Rossby numbers. In 2006, the glider observed two anticyclones having diameters of about 20 km and peak azimuthal speeds of about 0.3 m s(-1). Similar salinity anomalies were detected throughout the Irminger Sea by floats profiling in anticyclones. Two formation regions for the eddies are identified: one to the west of the Reykjanes Ridge and the other off the East Greenland Irminger Current near Cape Farewell close to the mooring. Observations indicate that eddies formed in the former region are larger than eddies observed at the mooring. A clear increase in eddy salinity is observed between 2002 and 2009. The observed breakup of these eddies in winter implies that they are a source of salt for the central gyre. The anticyclones are similar to those found in both the Labrador Sea and Norwegian Sea, making them a ubiquitous feature of the subpolar North Atlantic basins. Article in Journal/Newspaper Cape Farewell East Greenland Greenland Labrador Sea North Atlantic Norwegian Sea Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) Greenland Irminger Sea ENVELOPE(-34.041,-34.041,63.054,63.054) Norwegian Sea Reykjanes ENVELOPE(-22.250,-22.250,65.467,65.467) Journal of Physical Oceanography 43 4 805 823 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archimer (Archive Institutionnelle de l'Ifremer - Institut français de recherche pour l'exploitation de la mer) |
op_collection_id |
ftarchimer |
language |
English |
topic |
North Atlantic Ocean Eddies Mesoscale processes |
spellingShingle |
North Atlantic Ocean Eddies Mesoscale processes Fan, Xue Send, Uwe Testor, Pierre Karstensen, Johannes Lherminier, Pascale Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies |
topic_facet |
North Atlantic Ocean Eddies Mesoscale processes |
description |
Mesoscale anticyclonic eddies in the Irminger Sea are observed using a mooring and a glider. Between 2002 and 2009, the mooring observed 53 anticyclones. Using a kinematic model, objective estimates of eddy length scales and velocity structure are made for 16 eddies. Anticyclones had a mean core diameter of 12 km, and their mean peak observed azimuthal speed was 0.1 m s(-1). They had core salinities and potential temperatures of 34.91-34.98 and 4.488-5.34 degrees C, respectively, making them warm and salty features. These properties represent a typical salinity anomaly of 0.03 and a temperature anomaly of 0.28 degrees C from noneddy values. All eddies had small (<< 1) Rossby numbers. In 2006, the glider observed two anticyclones having diameters of about 20 km and peak azimuthal speeds of about 0.3 m s(-1). Similar salinity anomalies were detected throughout the Irminger Sea by floats profiling in anticyclones. Two formation regions for the eddies are identified: one to the west of the Reykjanes Ridge and the other off the East Greenland Irminger Current near Cape Farewell close to the mooring. Observations indicate that eddies formed in the former region are larger than eddies observed at the mooring. A clear increase in eddy salinity is observed between 2002 and 2009. The observed breakup of these eddies in winter implies that they are a source of salt for the central gyre. The anticyclones are similar to those found in both the Labrador Sea and Norwegian Sea, making them a ubiquitous feature of the subpolar North Atlantic basins. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fan, Xue Send, Uwe Testor, Pierre Karstensen, Johannes Lherminier, Pascale |
author_facet |
Fan, Xue Send, Uwe Testor, Pierre Karstensen, Johannes Lherminier, Pascale |
author_sort |
Fan, Xue |
title |
Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies |
title_short |
Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies |
title_full |
Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies |
title_fullStr |
Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies |
title_sort |
observations of irminger sea anticyclonic eddies |
publisher |
Amer Meteorological Soc |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/22921.pdf https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-0155.1 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-34.041,-34.041,63.054,63.054) ENVELOPE(-22.250,-22.250,65.467,65.467) |
geographic |
Greenland Irminger Sea Norwegian Sea Reykjanes |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Irminger Sea Norwegian Sea Reykjanes |
genre |
Cape Farewell East Greenland Greenland Labrador Sea North Atlantic Norwegian Sea |
genre_facet |
Cape Farewell East Greenland Greenland Labrador Sea North Atlantic Norwegian Sea |
op_source |
Journal Of Physical Oceanography (0022-3670) (Amer Meteorological Soc), 2013-04 , Vol. 43 , N. 4 , P. 805-823 |
op_relation |
https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/22921.pdf doi:10.1175/JPO-D-11-0155.1 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00137/24832/ |
op_rights |
2013 American Meteorological Society info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess restricted use |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-0155.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
805 |
op_container_end_page |
823 |
_version_ |
1766387220889993216 |