Submarine Estimates of Arctic Turbulent Spectra (SEATS)

• Main Authors: Marcinko, Charlotte, Allen, John, Martin, Adrian
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Marine Sciences; Physics; Arctic; Arctic Ocean
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/500398/

The Arctic is undergoing rapid climatic change. Currently ice cover over the Arctic isolates much of the water column from the atmosphere and prevents direct wind forcing on the upper ocean. Future ice retreat will expose more of the upper water column to direct atmospheric forcing for longer periods throughout the year. Increased atmospheric forcing has the potential to significantly change the properties and dynamics of the Arctic Ocean and its circulation. It is important to fully understand current conditions in ice covered and marginal ice regions to predict future changes in physical processes and feedbacks brought about by these rapid changes in climate. Historically it has been difficult to study the physics of the ocean beneath permanent or seasonal ice cover, although recent instrument developments have begun a sparse database of observations. The Submarine Estimates of Arctic Turbulence Spectra (SEATS) is a new project which aims to use previously unavailable data from UK submarine missions to assess the characteristics of mixed layer and sub-mixed layer variability in marginal, permanent and seasonally ice covered regions. Here we introduce the project and present the first preliminary results demonstrating the variability spectra of physical parameters within the Arctic Ocean.