Propagation pathways of classical Labrador Sea water from its source region to 26°N

More than two decades of hydrography on the Abaco line east of the Bahamas at 26 degrees N reveals decadal variability in the salinity of classical Labrador Sea Water (cLSW), despite the long distance from its source region in the North Atlantic Ocean. Hydrographic time series from the Labrador Sea and from the Abaco line show a pronounced step-like decrease in salinity between 1985 and 1995 in the Labrador Sea and between 1995 and 2010 at the Abaco line, suggesting a time lag between the two locations of approximately 9 years. The amplitude of the anomaly at the Abaco line is 50% of the amplitude in the Labrador Sea. A similar time lag and reduction of amplitude is found in the high-resolution OFES model, in which salinity anomalies can be observed propagating through the Deep Western Boundary Current as well as through a broad interior pathway. On its way south to the Abaco line, the cLSW becomes 8 standard deviations saltier due to isopycnal mixing with Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). Climatological data in the North Atlantic suggests that the mixing ratio of MOW to cLSW at the Abaco line is 1:4 and that no variability in MOW is required to explain the observed variability at the Abaco line. The data studied here suggest that decadal cLSW anomalies stay relatively coherent while getting advected, despite the important role of interior pathways

Global perspectives on observing ocean boundary current systems

Ocean boundary current systems are key components of the climate system, are home to highly productive ecosystems, and have numerous societal impacts. Establishment of a global network of boundary current observing systems is a critical part of ongoing development of the Global Ocean Observing System. The characteristics of boundary current systems are reviewed, focusing on scientific and societal motivations for sustained observing. Techniques currently used to observe boundary current systems are reviewed, followed by a census of the current state of boundary current observing systems globally. Next steps in the development of boundary current observing systems are considered, leading to several specific recommendations

Role of the Agulhas Current in Indian Ocean circulation and associated heat and freshwater fluxes

A reduced estimate of Agulhas Current transport provides the motivation to examine the sensitivity of Indian Ocean circulation and meridional heat transport to the strength of the western boundary current. The new transport estimate is 70 Sv, much smaller than the previous value of 85 Sv. Consideration of three case studies for a large, medium and small Agulhas Current transport demonstrate that the divergence of heat transport over the Indian Ocean north of 32°S has a sensitivity of 0.08 PW per 10 Sv of Agulhas transport, and freshwater convergence has a sensitivity of 0.03×109 kg s?1 per 10 Sv of transport. Moreover, a smaller Agulhas Current leads to a better silica balance and a smaller meridional overturning circulation for the Indian Ocean. The mean Agulhas Current transport estimated from time-series current meter measurements is used to constrain the geostrophic transport in the western boundary region in order to re-evaluate the circulation, heat and freshwater transports across 32°S. The Indonesian Throughflow is taken to be 12 Sv at an average temperature of 18°C. The constrained circulation exhibits a vertical–meridional circulation with a net northward flow below 2000 dbar of 10.1 Sv. The heat transport divergence is estimated to be 0.66 PW, the freshwater convergence to be 0.54×109 kg s?1, and the silica convergence to be 335 kmol s?1. Meridional transports are separated into barotropic, baroclinic and horizontal components, with each component conserving mass. The barotropic component is strongly dependent on the estimated size of the Indonesian Throughflow. Surprisingly, the baroclinic component depends principally on the large-scale density distribution and is nearly invariant to the size of the overturning circulation. The horizontal heat and freshwater flux components are strongly influenced by the size of the Agulhas Current because it is warmer and saltier than the mid-ocean. The horizontal fluxes of heat and salt penetrate down to 1500 m depth, suggesting that warm and salty Red Sea Water may be involved in converting the intermediate and upper deep waters which enter the Indian Ocean from the Southern Ocean into warmer and saltier waters before they exit in the Agulhas Current

The Ekman temperature and salt fluxes at 8°30′N in the Arabian Sea during the 1995 southwest monsoon

The Arabian Sea Ekman transport is an important component of the meridional overturning circulation of the Indian Ocean. Chereskin et al. (Geophys. Res. Lett. 24 (1997) 2541) presented direct estimates of the Ekman transport across latitude 8°30′N in the Arabian Sea for June and September during the 1995 southwest monsoon. In this paper, we use these measurements to determine the Ekman depth and the resultant heat and salt fluxes. In June, at the monsoon onset, the Ekman temperature and salt fluxes were estimated to be southward, 2.4±0.4 PW and 0.71±0.1×10 9 kg s −1 . The transport-weighted Ekman temperature and salinity were 29.0±0.5°C and 35.31±0.03 psu , not significantly different from surface values, 29.2°C and 35.28 psu , respectively. In September at the end of the monsoon, the Ekman temperature and salt fluxes had decreased in magnitude but were still southward, 0.77±0.4 PW and 0.27±0.1×10 9 kg s −1 . The transport-weighted temperature, 25.8±0.5°C, was 1.1°C colder than the surface value, and the transport-weighted salinity, 35.83±0.03 psu , was not significantly different from the surface value of 35.86 psu . For this pair of sections, the top of the pycnocline appeared to be a better approximation for the Ekman depth than either the mixed layer or a fixed depth, and our estimates of the Ekman heat and salt fluxes were integrated from the surface to the top of the pycnocline. Although uncertainty in the Ekman mass transport dominates the error in the Ekman heat and salt fluxes, determining the Ekman depth is also important in estimating the Ekman contribution to the heat budget of the tropical Indian Ocean. A decrease in Ekman temperature by 1.1°C resulted in a 5% decrease in the temperature transport estimated for September

Variability of water properties, heat and salt fluxes in the Arabian Sea, between the onset and wane of the 1995 southwest monsoon

We investigate the variability of the circulation, water masses, heat and salt fluxes in the Arabian Sea over the course of the southwest monsoon. Two zonal sections taken along 8[deg]30'N in 1995 as part of the Indian Ocean WOCE hydrographic program are used. The first was occupied in early June at the onset of the southwest monsoon winds, the second in late September, at the wane of the monsoon. The September section was found to be generally warmer (+0.32[deg]C) and saltier (+0.04) than in June, despite a 50 mm drop in mean sea level. Therefore, the common assumption that an increase in sea-surface height follows an increase in heat content (the hydrostatic response) does not hold. Instead, we conclude that the heat content increases due to the advection of Arabian Sea Surface Water and Red Sea Water onto the section from the north, and the drop in sea level is due to a loss of mass, rather than heat, from the water column. There are large uncertainties involved in diagnosing the heat-flux divergence across the Arabian Sea, because the seasonal variability of the water masses and circulation in the basin mean that our data are not representative of a steady state. We treat each section separately and find an oceanic heat export of -0.72 PW in June and -0.19 PW in September, implying a basin cooling rate of about -0.36 PW in June and a slight heating of 0.12 PW in September. In June the mass and heat balances are dominated by the Ekman transport and the Somali Current, with very flat density surfaces resulting in a small interior geostrophic transport. By September the Ekman transport has reduced, and it is primarily the interior transport that balances a strong Somali Current. There are two main overturning cells in June and September: A shallow one of approximate magnitude 15 Sv in June and 0 Sv in September, which reaches depths of no more than 500 m and is driven by Ekman divergence at the surface; and a deep cell of magnitude 1 Sv representing a weak inflow and subsequent upwelling of Circumpolar Deep water. The deep cell implies a basin-averaged upwelling velocity of 3.2 x 10-5 cm s-1 through 2200

Extinction and reignition in a diffusion flame : a direct numerical simulation study

More than two decades of hydrography on the Abaco line east of the Bahamas at 26 degrees N reveals decadal variability in the salinity of classical Labrador Sea Water (cLSW), despite the long distance from its source region in the North Atlantic Ocean. Hydrographic time series from the Labrador Sea and from the Abaco line show a pronounced step-like decrease in salinity between 1985 and 1995 in the Labrador Sea and between 1995 and 2010 at the Abaco line, suggesting a time lag between the two locations of approximately 9 years. The amplitude of the anomaly at the Abaco line is 50% of the amplitude in the Labrador Sea. A similar time lag and reduction of amplitude is found in the high-resolution OFES model, in which salinity anomalies can be observed propagating through the Deep Western Boundary Current as well as through a broad interior pathway. On its way south to the Abaco line, the cLSW becomes 8 standard deviations saltier due to isopycnal mixing with Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). Climatological data in the North Atlantic suggests that the mixing ratio of MOW to cLSW at the Abaco line is 1:4 and that no variability in MOW is required to explain the observed variability at the Abaco line. The data studied here suggest that decadal cLSW anomalies stay relatively coherent while getting advected, despite the important role of interior pathways

A prototype system of observing the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation - scientific basis, measurement and risk mitigation strategies, and first results

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) carries up to one quarter of the global northward heat transport in the Subtropical North Atlantic. A system monitoring the strength of the MOC volume transport has been operating since April 2004. The core of this system is an array of moored sensors measuring density, bottom pressure and ocean currents. A strategy to mitigate risks of possible partial failures of the array is presented, relying on backup and complementary measurements. The MOC is decomposed into five components, making use of the continuous moored observations, and of cable measurements across the Straits of Florida, and wind stress data. The components compensate for each other, indicating that the system is working reliably. The year-long average strength of the MOC is 18.7±5.6 Sv, with wind-driven and density-inferred transports contributing equally to the variability. Numerical simulations suggest that the surprisingly fast density changes at the western boundary are partially linked to westward propagating planetary waves

A prototype system of observing the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation - scientific basis, measurement and risk mitigation strategies, and first results

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC) carries up to one quarter of the global northward heat transport in the Subtropical North Atlantic. A system monitoring the strength of the MOC volume transport has been operating since April 2004. The core of this system is an array of moored sensors measuring density, bottom pressure and ocean currents. A strategy to mitigate risks of possible partial failures of the array is presented, relying on backup and complementary measurements. The MOC is decomposed into five components, making use of the continuous moored observations, and of cable measurements across the Straits of Florida, and wind stress data. The components compensate for each other, indicating that the system is working reliably. The year-long average strength of the MOC is 18.7±5.6 Sv, with wind-driven and density-inferred transports contributing equally to the variability. Numerical simulations suggest that the surprisingly fast density changes at the western boundary are partially linked to westward propagating planetary waves