Lagrangian Particle tracks in the Irminger Current using OceanParcels within the ocean model POP

• Main Author: Fried, Nora
• Other Authors: Nora Fried, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research in cooperation with Utrecht University
• Language: unknown
• Published: NIOZ 2023
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Sciences; Irminger Current; North Atlantic Ocean; OceanParcels; Particle Tracking; ocean model; Reykjanes; Irminger Sea; Iceland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.25850/nioz/7b.b.zf

The dataset contains particle tracks along the OSNAP East line in the Irminger Sea (from Cape Farewell to the top of the Reykjanes Ridge) using OceanParcels within the ocean-only model POP. We release particles every day for one year and track them backwards in time for five years to identify pathways and sources of the Irminger Current. In the vertical particles are released every 50 meters from the surface to 2000 meters depth. In the horizontal the spacing is approximately 6km. The data were saved in netcdf formats and are published here as matfiles (*parcles_backward*.mat). netCDF files can be accessed upon request. Python code on the particle tracking is published as well. For the study we performed the following processing: After tracking for one year, we perform a quality control procedure on the particle tracks to check for particles that display unrealistic behavior, in particular particles that unexpectedly stop moving which might be related to the tracking software. When that occurs, we exclude the remainder of the track. We only include particle tracks longer than 50 days. As our goal is to identify the potential different sources of the two Irminger Current cores we need to make sure that tracks are sufficiently long to travel from the Iceland Basin to the release location. Preliminary analyses showed more than 90% of the particles coming from the Iceland Basin cross the Reykjanes Ridge and reach the release location within less than 50 days. Those files are saved as *cleaned_files.mat.