Decline and partial rebound of the Labrador Current 1993-2004: Monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data
Monitoring and understanding of Labrador Current variability is important because it is intimately linked to the meridional overturning circulation and the marine ecosystem off northeast North America. Nevertheless, knowledge of its decadal variability is inadequate because of scarcity of current me...
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ftunivalberta:oai:era.library.ualberta.ca:bb9913e0-f587-49a3-b79e-2df87306a8a1 2023-05-15T17:22:30+02:00 Decline and partial rebound of the Labrador Current 1993-2004: Monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data Chen, Nancy Ohashi, Kyoko Fischer, Jürgen Myers, Paul G. Han, Guoqi Nunes, Nuno 2010 https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/bb9913e0-f587-49a3-b79e-2df87306a8a1 https://doi.org/10.7939/R37M04F35 English eng https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/bb9913e0-f587-49a3-b79e-2df87306a8a1 doi:10.7939/R37M04F35 © 2010 by the American Geophysical Union. Sea Transport Convection Water Newfoundland Subpolar North-Atlantic Variability Meridional Overturning Circulation Topex/Poseidon Article (Published) 2010 ftunivalberta https://doi.org/10.7939/R37M04F35 2022-08-22T20:13:26Z Monitoring and understanding of Labrador Current variability is important because it is intimately linked to the meridional overturning circulation and the marine ecosystem off northeast North America. Nevertheless, knowledge of its decadal variability is inadequate because of scarcity of current meter data. By using a novel synthesis of satellite altimetry with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data, we assess the Labrador Current variability north of the Hamilton Bank (56°N) over 1993–2004. Our analysis shows a decline of the surface-to-bottom transport of current by 6.3 ± 1.5 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1) in the 1990s (significant at the 99% confidence level) and a likely partial rebound of 3.2 ± 1.7 Sv in the early 2000s (significant at the 89% confidence level only). The inferred multiyear changes in the Labrador Current transport seem to be primarily barotropic and positively correlated (at the 99% level) with the North Atlantic Oscillation at zero lag implying a fast response of the regional circulation to the atmospheric forcing variability. The results compare favorably with direct current measurements and recent model-based findings on the multiyear variability of the subpolar gyre and its underlying mechanisms. The study demonstrates the feasibility of combining altimetry and CTD data for assessing the climatic variability of the boundary currents. Other/Unknown Material Newfoundland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation University of Alberta: Era - Education and Research Archive Hamilton Bank ENVELOPE(-54.156,-54.156,53.309,53.309) Newfoundland |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alberta: Era - Education and Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalberta |
language |
English |
topic |
Sea Transport Convection Water Newfoundland Subpolar North-Atlantic Variability Meridional Overturning Circulation Topex/Poseidon |
spellingShingle |
Sea Transport Convection Water Newfoundland Subpolar North-Atlantic Variability Meridional Overturning Circulation Topex/Poseidon Chen, Nancy Ohashi, Kyoko Fischer, Jürgen Myers, Paul G. Han, Guoqi Nunes, Nuno Decline and partial rebound of the Labrador Current 1993-2004: Monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data |
topic_facet |
Sea Transport Convection Water Newfoundland Subpolar North-Atlantic Variability Meridional Overturning Circulation Topex/Poseidon |
description |
Monitoring and understanding of Labrador Current variability is important because it is intimately linked to the meridional overturning circulation and the marine ecosystem off northeast North America. Nevertheless, knowledge of its decadal variability is inadequate because of scarcity of current meter data. By using a novel synthesis of satellite altimetry with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data, we assess the Labrador Current variability north of the Hamilton Bank (56°N) over 1993–2004. Our analysis shows a decline of the surface-to-bottom transport of current by 6.3 ± 1.5 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1) in the 1990s (significant at the 99% confidence level) and a likely partial rebound of 3.2 ± 1.7 Sv in the early 2000s (significant at the 89% confidence level only). The inferred multiyear changes in the Labrador Current transport seem to be primarily barotropic and positively correlated (at the 99% level) with the North Atlantic Oscillation at zero lag implying a fast response of the regional circulation to the atmospheric forcing variability. The results compare favorably with direct current measurements and recent model-based findings on the multiyear variability of the subpolar gyre and its underlying mechanisms. The study demonstrates the feasibility of combining altimetry and CTD data for assessing the climatic variability of the boundary currents. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Chen, Nancy Ohashi, Kyoko Fischer, Jürgen Myers, Paul G. Han, Guoqi Nunes, Nuno |
author_facet |
Chen, Nancy Ohashi, Kyoko Fischer, Jürgen Myers, Paul G. Han, Guoqi Nunes, Nuno |
author_sort |
Chen, Nancy |
title |
Decline and partial rebound of the Labrador Current 1993-2004: Monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data |
title_short |
Decline and partial rebound of the Labrador Current 1993-2004: Monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data |
title_full |
Decline and partial rebound of the Labrador Current 1993-2004: Monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data |
title_fullStr |
Decline and partial rebound of the Labrador Current 1993-2004: Monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decline and partial rebound of the Labrador Current 1993-2004: Monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data |
title_sort |
decline and partial rebound of the labrador current 1993-2004: monitoring ocean currents from altimetric and conductivity-temperature-depth data |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/bb9913e0-f587-49a3-b79e-2df87306a8a1 https://doi.org/10.7939/R37M04F35 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-54.156,-54.156,53.309,53.309) |
geographic |
Hamilton Bank Newfoundland |
geographic_facet |
Hamilton Bank Newfoundland |
genre |
Newfoundland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_relation |
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/bb9913e0-f587-49a3-b79e-2df87306a8a1 doi:10.7939/R37M04F35 |
op_rights |
© 2010 by the American Geophysical Union. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7939/R37M04F35 |
_version_ |
1766109206603104256 |