The 1992-2009 transport variability of the East Greenland‐Irminger Current at 60°N

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Daniault, Nathalie, Mercier, H., Lherminier, P.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de physique des océans (LPO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; Greenland; Irminger Sea; Curl; East Greenland
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00581655; https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL046863

International audience The East Greenland Irminger Current (EGIC) decadal transport variability likely influences deep convection intensity in the Labrador and Irminger Seas but is poorly known yet. The EGIC transport west of the 2000 m isobath was estimated, for the first time, between 1992 and 2009 by combining surface geostrophic velocities derived from altimetry with an estimate of the vertical structure of the transport variability statistically determined from a moored array deployed in 2004-2006. The reconstructed 17‐year time series of the EGIC transport was then validated against independent estimates confirming that, indeed, the vertical distribution of the EGIC variability has not changed significantly over the last two decades. The 1992-2009 mean transport is 19.5 Sv with a standard error of 0.3 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1). In 1992-1996, the EGIC transport was close to the average. Over the following decade (1997-2005), the EGIC transport declined by 3 Sv (15%) so that the 2004-2006 mean transport inferred from the moored array is 2.2 Sv (10%) less than the 1992-2009 mean. It was followed by a period of higher transport. The seasonal to interannual transport variability is coherent with the variability of the windstress curl at the center of the Irminger Sea.