Temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the Nordic Seas
In this paper, the temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Nordic Seas is investigated. The data include a Russian hydrographical database for the Nordic Seas and daily to weekly observations of salinity at Ocean Weather Station Mike (OWSM) (located at 66°N, 2°E in...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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American Geophysical Union
2002
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ftunivbergen:oai:bora.uib.no:1956/642 2023-05-15T16:30:11+02:00 Temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the Nordic Seas Furevik, Tore Bentsen, Mats Drange, Helge Johannessen, Johnny A. Korablev, Alexander 2002-11-02 3465454 bytes application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1956/642 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jc001118 eng eng American Geophysical Union urn:issn:0148-0227 https://hdl.handle.net/1956/642 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jc001118 Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union Journal of Geophysical Research 107 C12 Oceanography Peer reviewed Journal article 2002 ftunivbergen https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jc001118 2023-03-14T17:42:49Z In this paper, the temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Nordic Seas is investigated. The data include a Russian hydrographical database for the Nordic Seas and daily to weekly observations of salinity at Ocean Weather Station Mike (OWSM) (located at 66°N, 2°E in the Norwegian Sea). In addition, output from a medium-resolution version of the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM), forced with daily National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data, is used to complement the analysis of the temporal and spatial fields constructed from the observational data sets. The Nordic Seas show a strong seasonal variability in the vertical density stratification and the mixed layer (ML) depth, with a weak stratification and a several hundred meters deep ML during winter and a well-defined shallow ML confined to the upper few tens of meters during summer. The seasonal variability strongly influences the strength of the high-frequency variability and to what extent subsurface anomalies are isolated from the surface. High-frequency variability has been investigated in terms of standard deviation of daily SSS, calculated for the different months of the year. From observations at OWSM, typical winter values range from 0.03 to 0.04 psu and summer values range from 0.06 to 0.07 psu. Results from the model simulation show that highest variability is found in frontal areas and in areas with strong stratification and lowest variability in the less stratified areas in the central Norwegian Sea and south of Iceland. Investigation of the interannual variability over the last 50 years shows a marked freshening of the Atlantic Water in the Norwegian and Greenland Seas. Moreover, the strength of the southern sector of the Polar front, as defined by the 34.8–35.0 psu isohalines along the western boundary of the inflowing Atlantic Water, undergoes significant interannual variability with gradient stretching reaching up to 300 km. In ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Iceland Nordic Seas Norwegian Sea University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) Greenland Norwegian Sea Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 107 C12 SRF 10-1 SRF 10-16 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivbergen |
language |
English |
topic |
Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Oceanography Furevik, Tore Bentsen, Mats Drange, Helge Johannessen, Johnny A. Korablev, Alexander Temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the Nordic Seas |
topic_facet |
Oceanography |
description |
In this paper, the temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Nordic Seas is investigated. The data include a Russian hydrographical database for the Nordic Seas and daily to weekly observations of salinity at Ocean Weather Station Mike (OWSM) (located at 66°N, 2°E in the Norwegian Sea). In addition, output from a medium-resolution version of the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM), forced with daily National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data, is used to complement the analysis of the temporal and spatial fields constructed from the observational data sets. The Nordic Seas show a strong seasonal variability in the vertical density stratification and the mixed layer (ML) depth, with a weak stratification and a several hundred meters deep ML during winter and a well-defined shallow ML confined to the upper few tens of meters during summer. The seasonal variability strongly influences the strength of the high-frequency variability and to what extent subsurface anomalies are isolated from the surface. High-frequency variability has been investigated in terms of standard deviation of daily SSS, calculated for the different months of the year. From observations at OWSM, typical winter values range from 0.03 to 0.04 psu and summer values range from 0.06 to 0.07 psu. Results from the model simulation show that highest variability is found in frontal areas and in areas with strong stratification and lowest variability in the less stratified areas in the central Norwegian Sea and south of Iceland. Investigation of the interannual variability over the last 50 years shows a marked freshening of the Atlantic Water in the Norwegian and Greenland Seas. Moreover, the strength of the southern sector of the Polar front, as defined by the 34.8–35.0 psu isohalines along the western boundary of the inflowing Atlantic Water, undergoes significant interannual variability with gradient stretching reaching up to 300 km. In ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Furevik, Tore Bentsen, Mats Drange, Helge Johannessen, Johnny A. Korablev, Alexander |
author_facet |
Furevik, Tore Bentsen, Mats Drange, Helge Johannessen, Johnny A. Korablev, Alexander |
author_sort |
Furevik, Tore |
title |
Temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the Nordic Seas |
title_short |
Temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the Nordic Seas |
title_full |
Temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the Nordic Seas |
title_fullStr |
Temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the Nordic Seas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the Nordic Seas |
title_sort |
temporal and spatial variability of the sea surface salinity in the nordic seas |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1956/642 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jc001118 |
geographic |
Greenland Norwegian Sea |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Norwegian Sea |
genre |
Greenland Iceland Nordic Seas Norwegian Sea |
genre_facet |
Greenland Iceland Nordic Seas Norwegian Sea |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research 107 C12 |
op_relation |
urn:issn:0148-0227 https://hdl.handle.net/1956/642 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jc001118 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2002 by the American Geophysical Union |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jc001118 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
107 |
container_issue |
C12 |
container_start_page |
SRF 10-1 |
op_container_end_page |
SRF 10-16 |
_version_ |
1766019911088340992 |