Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic
The variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may play a role in sea surface temperature predictions on seasonal to decadal time scales. Therefore, AMOC seasonal cycles are a potential baseline for interpreting predictions. Here, we present estimates for the seasonal cycl...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:519393 2023-05-15T16:29:51+02:00 Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic Gary, Stefan F. Cunningham, Stuart A. Johnson, Clare Houpert, Loïc Holliday, N. Penny Behrens, Erik Biastoch, Arne Böning, Claus W. 2018-02 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519393/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519393/1/Gary_etal_2018_jgrc22695.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013350 en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519393/1/Gary_etal_2018_jgrc22695.pdf Gary, Stefan F.; Cunningham, Stuart A.; Johnson, Clare; Houpert, Loïc orcid:0000-0001-8750-5631 Holliday, N. Penny orcid:0000-0002-9733-8002 Behrens, Erik; Biastoch, Arne; Böning, Claus W. 2018 Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 123 (2). 1471-1484. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013350 <https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013350> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013350 2023-02-04T19:46:13Z The variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may play a role in sea surface temperature predictions on seasonal to decadal time scales. Therefore, AMOC seasonal cycles are a potential baseline for interpreting predictions. Here, we present estimates for the seasonal cycle of transports of volume, temperature, and freshwater associated with the upper limb of the AMOC in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic on the Extended Ellett Line hydrographic section between Scotland and Iceland. Due to weather, ship-based observations are primarily in summer. Recent glider observations during other seasons present an opportunity to investigate the seasonal variability in the upper layer of the AMOC. First, we document a new method to quality control and merge ship, float, and glider hydrographic observations. This method accounts for the different spatial sampling rates of the three platforms. The merged observations are used to compute seasonal cycles of volume, temperature, and freshwater transports in the Rockall Trough. These estimates are similar to the seasonal cycles in two eddy-resolving ocean models. Volume transport appears to be the primary factor modulating other Rockall Trough transports. Finally, we show that the weakest transports occur in summer, consistent with seasonal changes in the regional-scale wind stress curl. Although the seasonal cycle is weak compared to other variability in this region, the amplitude of the seasonal cycle in the Rockall Trough, roughly 0.5 to 1 Sv about a mean of 3.4 Sv, may account for up to 7 to 14% of the heat flux between Scotland and Greenland. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Iceland North Atlantic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Greenland Curl ENVELOPE(-63.071,-63.071,-70.797,-70.797) Rockall Trough ENVELOPE(-15.036,-15.036,53.825,53.825) Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 123 2 1471 1484 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) may play a role in sea surface temperature predictions on seasonal to decadal time scales. Therefore, AMOC seasonal cycles are a potential baseline for interpreting predictions. Here, we present estimates for the seasonal cycle of transports of volume, temperature, and freshwater associated with the upper limb of the AMOC in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic on the Extended Ellett Line hydrographic section between Scotland and Iceland. Due to weather, ship-based observations are primarily in summer. Recent glider observations during other seasons present an opportunity to investigate the seasonal variability in the upper layer of the AMOC. First, we document a new method to quality control and merge ship, float, and glider hydrographic observations. This method accounts for the different spatial sampling rates of the three platforms. The merged observations are used to compute seasonal cycles of volume, temperature, and freshwater transports in the Rockall Trough. These estimates are similar to the seasonal cycles in two eddy-resolving ocean models. Volume transport appears to be the primary factor modulating other Rockall Trough transports. Finally, we show that the weakest transports occur in summer, consistent with seasonal changes in the regional-scale wind stress curl. Although the seasonal cycle is weak compared to other variability in this region, the amplitude of the seasonal cycle in the Rockall Trough, roughly 0.5 to 1 Sv about a mean of 3.4 Sv, may account for up to 7 to 14% of the heat flux between Scotland and Greenland. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gary, Stefan F. Cunningham, Stuart A. Johnson, Clare Houpert, Loïc Holliday, N. Penny Behrens, Erik Biastoch, Arne Böning, Claus W. |
spellingShingle |
Gary, Stefan F. Cunningham, Stuart A. Johnson, Clare Houpert, Loïc Holliday, N. Penny Behrens, Erik Biastoch, Arne Böning, Claus W. Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic |
author_facet |
Gary, Stefan F. Cunningham, Stuart A. Johnson, Clare Houpert, Loïc Holliday, N. Penny Behrens, Erik Biastoch, Arne Böning, Claus W. |
author_sort |
Gary, Stefan F. |
title |
Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic |
title_short |
Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic |
title_full |
Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic |
title_sort |
seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar north atlantic |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519393/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519393/1/Gary_etal_2018_jgrc22695.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013350 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.071,-63.071,-70.797,-70.797) ENVELOPE(-15.036,-15.036,53.825,53.825) |
geographic |
Greenland Curl Rockall Trough |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Curl Rockall Trough |
genre |
Greenland Iceland North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Greenland Iceland North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/519393/1/Gary_etal_2018_jgrc22695.pdf Gary, Stefan F.; Cunningham, Stuart A.; Johnson, Clare; Houpert, Loïc orcid:0000-0001-8750-5631 Holliday, N. Penny orcid:0000-0002-9733-8002 Behrens, Erik; Biastoch, Arne; Böning, Claus W. 2018 Seasonal cycles of oceanic transports in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 123 (2). 1471-1484. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013350 <https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013350> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JC013350 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
123 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
1471 |
op_container_end_page |
1484 |
_version_ |
1766019564769902592 |