Is there any imprint of the wind variability on the Atlantic Water circulation within the Arctic Basin?

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Lique, Camille, Johnson, Helen L.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Arctic; Arctic Basin; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04200776; https://hal.science/hal-04200776/document; https://hal.science/hal-04200776/file/Geophysical%20Research%20Letters%20-%202015%20-%20Lique%20-%20Is%20there%20any%20imprint%20of%20the%20wind%20variability%20on%20the%20Atlantic%20Water.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066141

International audience The Atlantic Water (AW) layer in the Arctic Basin is isolated from the atmosphere by the overlaying surface layer, yet observations have revealed that the velocities in this layer exhibit significant variations. Here analysis of a global ocean/sea ice model hindcast, complemented by experiments performed with an idealized process model, is used to investigate what controls the variability of AW circulation, with a focus on the role of wind forcing. The AW circulation carries the imprint of wind variations, both remotely over the Nordic and Barents Seas where they force the AW inflow variability, and locally over the Arctic Basin through the forcing of the wind-driven Beaufort Gyre, which modulates and transfers the wind variability to the AW layer. The strong interplay between the circulation within the surface and AW layers suggests that both layers must be considered to understand variability in either.