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...

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Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
Main Authors: Gary, Stefan F., Cunningham, Stuart A., Johnson, Clare, Houpert, Loïc, Holliday, N. Penny, Behrens, Erik, Biastoch, Arne, Böning, Claus W.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access: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
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spelling 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
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