73 research outputs found

    Transports and water masses in the fram strait and its vicinity from three decades of hydrographic observations in 1980-2010

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    The Arctic Ocean and its exchanges with the Nordic Seas influence the north-European climate. The Fram Strait with its 2600 m sill depth is the only deep passage between the Arctic Ocean and the other oceans. Not just all the deep water exchanges between the Arctic Ocean and the rest of the world's oceans take place through the Fram Strait, but also a significant amount of cold, low-saline surface waters and sea ice exit the Arctic Ocean through the strait. Correspondingly, part of the warm and saline Atlantic water flowing northward enters the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait bringing heat into the Arctic Ocean. The oceanic exchanges through the Fram Strait as well as the water mass properties and the changes they undergo in the Fram Strait and its vicinity are studied from three decades of ship-based hydrographic observations collected from 1980-2010. The transports are estimated from geostrophic velocities. The main section, comprised of hydrographic stations, is located zonally at about 79 °N. For a few years of the observed period it is possible to combine the 79 °N section with a more northern section, or with a meridional section at the Greenwich meridian, to form quasi-closed boxes and to apply conservation constraints on them in order to estimate the transports through the Fram strait as well as the recirculation in the strait. In a similar way, zonal hydrographic sections in the Fram Strait and along 75 °N crossing the Greenland Sea are combined to study the exchanges between the Nordic Seas and the Fram Strait. The transport estimates are adjusted with drift estimates based on Argo floats in the Greenland Sea. The mean net volume transports through the Fram Strait are averaged from the various approaches and range from less than 1 Sv to about 3 Sv. The heat loss to the atmosphere from the quasi-closed boxes both north and south of the Fram Strait section is estimated at about 10 TW. The net freshwater transport through the Fram Strait is estimated at 60-70 mSv southward. The insufficiently known northward transport of Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW) originating in the Nordic Seas is estimated using 2002 Oden expedition data. At the time of data collection, excess sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) was available, a tracer that besides a background anthropogenic origin derives from a mixing experiment in the Greenland Sea in 1996. The excess SF6 can be used to distinguish AIW from the upper Polar Deep Water originating in the Arctic Ocean. It is estimated that 0.5 Sv of AIW enters the Arctic Ocean. The deep waters in the Nordic Seas and in the Arctic Ocean have become warmer and in the Greenland Sea also more saline during the three decades studied in this work. The temperature and salinity properties of the deep waters found in the Fram Strait from both Arctic Ocean and Greenland Sea origins have become similar and continue to do so. How these changes will affect the circulation patterns will be seen in the future

    Structure and Transport of Atlantic Water North of Svalbard From Observations in Summer and Fall 2018

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    The transport of warm Atlantic Waters north of Svalbard is one of the major heat and salt sources to the Arctic Ocean. The circulation pathways and the associated heat transport influence the variability in the Arctic sea ice extent, the onset of freezing, and marine ecosystems. We present observations obtained from research cruises and an autonomous underwater glider mission in summer and fall 2018, to describe the hydrographic structure, volume transport, and circulation patterns of the warm Atlantic Water Boundary Current between 12°E and 24°E north of Svalbard. The Atlantic Water volume transport reaches a maximum of 3.0  ± 0.2 Sv in October, with an intraseasonal variability of 1 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1). During summer and late fall, we observed an Atlantic Water recirculation flowing westward (0.1–0.2 Sv) in the outer part of the section away from the shelf break. This counter current appears to be a part of an anticyclonic circulation in the Sofia Deep. The strength of the Atlantic Water recirculation and the Atlantic Water boundary current is very sensitive to the wind stress curl: The boundary current volume transport doubled in less than a week, corresponding to a transition from strongly negative (−10−6 N m−3) to strongly positive (10−6 N m−3) wind stress curl over the Sofia Deep. A previously unknown, deep bottom‐intensified current is observed to flow parallel to the boundary current, between the 1,500 and 2,000 m isobaths. Historical data in the region support the presence of the bottom‐intensified current.publishedVersio

    Fram Strait and Greenland Sea transports, water masses, and water mass transformations 1999–2010 (and beyond)

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    The exchanges between the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Ocean are important for the ocean circulation and climate. Transports are here estimated using summer hydrographic data from the Greenland Sea and the Fram Strait. Geostrophic transports are computed from hydrographic sections at 75°N in the Greenland Sea and at about 79°N in the Fram Strait. Geostrophic velocities are adjusted with summer velocities derived from Argo floats, and four conservation constraints are applied to a box closed by the two sections. The estimated net volume transports are 0.8 ± 1.5 Sv southward. Net freshwater transports through the Greenland Sea section are estimated at 54 ± 20 mSv and through the Fram Strait section at 66 ± 9 mSv. Heat loss in the area between the two sections is estimated at 9 ± 12 TW. Convection depths in the Greenland Sea are estimated from observations and vary between about 200 and 2000 dbar showing no trend. Water mass properties in the Greenland Sea are affected both by convection and lateral mixing. Vertical mixing is estimated from hydrography and based on it about 1 Sv of diluted Arctic Ocean waters are estimated to enter the Greenland Sea. The properties of Atlantic, intermediate, and deep waters are studied. Deep water properties are defined using water mass triangles and are subject to decadal changes

    An assessment of ten ocean reanalyses in the polar regions

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    Global and regional ocean and sea ice reanalysis products (ORAs) are increasingly used in polar research, but their quality remains to be systematically assessed. To address this, the Polar ORA Intercomparison Project (Polar ORA-IP) has been established following on from the ORA-IP project. Several aspects of ten selected ORAs in the Arctic and Antarctic were addressed by concentrating on comparing their mean states in terms of snow, sea ice, ocean transports and hydrography. Most polar diagnostics were carried out for the first time in such an extensive set of ORAs. For the multi-ORA mean state, we found that deviations from observations were typically smaller than individual ORA anomalies, often attributed to offsetting biases of individual ORAs. The ORA ensemble mean therefore appears to be a useful product and while knowing its main deficiencies and recognising its restrictions, it can be used to gain useful information on the physical state of the polar marine environment.Peer reviewe

    Atlantic Water advection versus sea-ice advances in the eastern Fram Strait during the last 9 ka - multiproxy evidence for a two-phase Holocene

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    A sediment core from the West Spitsbergen continental margin was studied to reconstruct climate and paleoceanographic variability during the last ~9 ka in the eastern Fram Strait. Our multiproxy evidence suggests that the establishment of the modern oceanographic configuration in the eastern Fram Strait occurred stepwise, in response to the postglacial sea-level rise and the related onset of modern sea-ice production on the shallow Siberian shelves. The late Early and Mid Holocene interval (9 to 5 ka) was generally characterized by relatively unstable conditions. High abundance of the subpolar planktic foraminifer species Turborotalita quinqueloba implies strong intensity of Atlantic Water (AW) inflow with high productivity and/or high AW temperatures, resulting in a strong heat flux to the Arctic. A series of short-lived cooling events (8.2, 6.9. and 6.1 ka) occurred superimposed on the warm late Early and Mid Holocene conditions. Our proxy data imply that simultaneous to the complete postglacial flooding of Arctic shallow shelves and the initiation of modern sea-ice production, strong advance of polar waters initiated modern oceanographic conditions in the eastern Fram Strait at ~5.2 ka. The Late Holocene was marked by the dominance of the polar planktic foraminifer species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, a significant expansion of sea ice/icebergs, and strong stratification of the water column. Although planktic foraminiferal assemblages as well as sea surface and subsurface temperatures suggest a return of slightly strengthened advection of subsurface Atlantic Water after 3 ka, a relatively stable cold-water layer prevailed at the sea surface and the study site was probably located within the seasonally fluctuating marginal ice zone during the Neoglacial period

    Työhyvinvoinnin kehittäminen HR-tiimissä

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    Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli tarkastella työhyvinvointia HR-alan yrityksen toimihenkilö- ja päällikkötason tehtävissä työskentelevillä työntekijöillä työn imun näkökulmasta. Opinnäytetyön teoreettinen viitekehys pohjautuu vahvasti Jari Hakasen työn imu-teoriaan sekä sen eri osa-alueita koskevaan kirjallisuuteen. Tarkastelua suoritettiin selvittämällä, mitkä ovat tiimin työntekijöiden suurimmat voimavarat, toimivimmat motivaatiotekijät sekä suurimmat kuormitustekijät. Lisäksi selvitettiin, minkälaiset mahdollisuudet kohdeyrityksessä on työn tuunaamiselle ja mitä keinoja siihen on. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osa toteutettiin kvalitatiivisella puoli strukturoidulla haastattelulla. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että työn suurimmiksi voimavaroiksi koettiin työkaverit, mielenkiintoiset työtehtävät ja työympäristö. Suurimpia tutkimuksessa ilmenneitä motivaatiotekijöitä olivat onnistumiset, raha ja kehittymismahdollisuudet. Lisäksi tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että suurimmat työssä esiintyvät kuormitustekijät ovat kiire sekä monipuoliset työtehtävät, joka oli myös yksi suurimmista voimavaroista. Työssä pystyy tuunaamaan työaikoja, työmenetelmiä ja omaa aikataulutusta. Työergonomian pystyy myös muokkaamaan itselle parhaaksi ja töitä on mahdollista tehdä etänä. Opinnäytetyö oli hyödyllinen kohdeyritykselle, sillä se tarjosi kattavasti tietoa tekijöistä, jotka vaikuttavat yrityksen toimihenkilöiden ja päälliköiden työhyvinvointiin työn imun ja sitä tukevien tekijöiden kautta. Näiden tutkimustulosten avulla kohdeyrityksessä on helpompi lähteä kehittämään työhyvinvointia hyvästä lähtötilanteesta ilman, että sen täytyy laskea huonoksi välissä. Työhyvinvointia on siis mahdollista tutkimuksessa ilmenneen tiedon pohjalta kehittää vahvistamalla voimavaroja ja motivoivia tekijöitä sekä keventää kuormitustekijöitä näiden tekijöiden ollessa selvillä.The aim of the thesis was to examine employee well-being from the perspective of job engagement in an HR team. The theoretical framework of the thesis was heavily based on Jari Hakanen's Theory of Work Engagement and the literature related to its various components. The empirical part of the research was carried out through qualitative semi-structured interviews. The research results indicated that the greatest resources in work were perceived to be colleagues, diverse job tasks, and the work environment. The most significant motivational factors identified in the study were accomplishments, money, and opportunities for development. The major stressors in work were time pressure and diverse job tasks, which were also identified as one of the greatest resources. The possibilities for job crafting were good, and there were many aspects that could be adjusted. The thesis was beneficial for the target company as it provided comprehensive information about the factors influencing the well-being of this particular HR team. With the help of these research findings, the target company can develop well-being from a strong starting point without having to assess a poor situation in between
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