Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2012 Over the last few decades, the Arctic Ocean has experienced drastic changes that include increased temperature, changes in freshwater distribution, and decrease in sea ice extent and thickness. These changes, which potentially affect global climate, are...
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ftunivwashington:oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/22539 2023-05-15T14:32:41+02:00 Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies Peralta Ferriz, Ana Cecilia Morison, James H 2012 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1773/22539 en_US eng PeraltaFerriz_washington_0250E_11019.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1773/22539 Copyright is held by the individual authors. Arctic mass distribution Arctic Ocean GRACE ocean mass Physical oceanography oceanography Thesis 2012 ftunivwashington 2023-03-12T18:50:31Z Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2012 Over the last few decades, the Arctic Ocean has experienced drastic changes that include increased temperature, changes in freshwater distribution, and decrease in sea ice extent and thickness. These changes, which potentially affect global climate, are intimately linked to changes in the Arctic Ocean circulation. Thus, understanding Arctic Ocean circulation patterns is fundamental to monitoring and predicting the fate of the Arctic System. Since 2002, NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has provided continuous measurements of the time-varying gravity field of the Arctic Ocean. The gravitational variations represent mass variations, or the time-varying ocean bottom pressure (OBP) field. OBP variations are the sum of the mass change due to the sea surface height change and the integrated density variations through the water column. In this dissertation, in situ and GRACE measurements of OBP anomalies, complemented by information from ocean models, are used to investigate the relative contribution of sea surface height and density-variations on the Arctic OBP field. The dynamics associated with the observed OBP changes are investigated. Major findings include the identification of three primary temporal-spatial modes of OBP variability at monthly to inter-annual timescales with the following characteristics: - Mode 1 is a wintertime basin-coherent Arctic mass change forced by southerly winds through Bering and Fram Straits. - Mode 2 reveals mass change along the Siberian shelves, driven by surface Ekman dynamics and associated with the Arctic Oscillation. - Mode 3 reveals a mass drop in Western Arctic shelves forced by the strengthening of the anticyclonic Beaufort Gyre, and wintertime along-shore westerly winds that increase OBP in the Eastern Arctic shelves. The OBP changes in the Kara Sea reveal a more baroclinic ocean character than modeling results have previously suggested, due to the complex bathymetry of this region and runoff-derived ... Thesis Arctic Arctic Ocean Kara Sea Sea ice University of Washington, Seattle: ResearchWorks Arctic Arctic Ocean Kara Sea |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Washington, Seattle: ResearchWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunivwashington |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic mass distribution Arctic Ocean GRACE ocean mass Physical oceanography oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Arctic mass distribution Arctic Ocean GRACE ocean mass Physical oceanography oceanography Peralta Ferriz, Ana Cecilia Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies |
topic_facet |
Arctic mass distribution Arctic Ocean GRACE ocean mass Physical oceanography oceanography |
description |
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2012 Over the last few decades, the Arctic Ocean has experienced drastic changes that include increased temperature, changes in freshwater distribution, and decrease in sea ice extent and thickness. These changes, which potentially affect global climate, are intimately linked to changes in the Arctic Ocean circulation. Thus, understanding Arctic Ocean circulation patterns is fundamental to monitoring and predicting the fate of the Arctic System. Since 2002, NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has provided continuous measurements of the time-varying gravity field of the Arctic Ocean. The gravitational variations represent mass variations, or the time-varying ocean bottom pressure (OBP) field. OBP variations are the sum of the mass change due to the sea surface height change and the integrated density variations through the water column. In this dissertation, in situ and GRACE measurements of OBP anomalies, complemented by information from ocean models, are used to investigate the relative contribution of sea surface height and density-variations on the Arctic OBP field. The dynamics associated with the observed OBP changes are investigated. Major findings include the identification of three primary temporal-spatial modes of OBP variability at monthly to inter-annual timescales with the following characteristics: - Mode 1 is a wintertime basin-coherent Arctic mass change forced by southerly winds through Bering and Fram Straits. - Mode 2 reveals mass change along the Siberian shelves, driven by surface Ekman dynamics and associated with the Arctic Oscillation. - Mode 3 reveals a mass drop in Western Arctic shelves forced by the strengthening of the anticyclonic Beaufort Gyre, and wintertime along-shore westerly winds that increase OBP in the Eastern Arctic shelves. The OBP changes in the Kara Sea reveal a more baroclinic ocean character than modeling results have previously suggested, due to the complex bathymetry of this region and runoff-derived ... |
author2 |
Morison, James H |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Peralta Ferriz, Ana Cecilia |
author_facet |
Peralta Ferriz, Ana Cecilia |
author_sort |
Peralta Ferriz, Ana Cecilia |
title |
Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies |
title_short |
Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies |
title_full |
Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies |
title_fullStr |
Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies |
title_sort |
arctic ocean circulation patterns revealed by ocean bottom pressure anomalies |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1773/22539 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Kara Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Kara Sea |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Kara Sea Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Kara Sea Sea ice |
op_relation |
PeraltaFerriz_washington_0250E_11019.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1773/22539 |
op_rights |
Copyright is held by the individual authors. |
_version_ |
1766306054786777088 |