Large-scale forcing of the European Slope Current and associated inflows to the North Sea
01 Apr 2017-pp 15445
TL;DR: The European Slope Current provides a shelf-edge conduit for Atlantic Water, a substantial fraction of which is destined for the northern North Sea, with implications for regional hydrography and ecosystems as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: . The European Slope Current provides a shelf-edge conduit for Atlantic Water, a substantial fraction of which is destined for the northern North Sea, with implications for regional hydrography and ecosystems. Drifters drogued at 50 m in the European Slope Current at the Hebridean shelf break follow a wide range of pathways, indicating highly variable Atlantic inflow to the North Sea. Slope Current pathways, timescales and transports over 1988–2007 are further quantified in an eddy-resolving ocean model hindcast. Particle trajectories calculated with model currents indicate that Slope Current water is largely recruited from the eastern subpolar North Atlantic. Observations of absolute dynamic topography and climatological density support theoretical expectations that Slope Current transport is to first order associated with meridional density gradients in the eastern subpolar gyre, which support a geostrophic inflow towards the slope. In the model hindcast, Slope Current transport variability is dominated by abrupt 25–50 % reductions of these density gradients over 1996–1998. Concurrent changes in wind forcing, expressed in terms of density gradients, act in the same sense to reduce Slope Current transport. This indicates that coordinated regional changes of buoyancy and wind forcing acted together to reduce Slope Current transport during the 1990s. Particle trajectories further show that 10–40 % of Slope Current water is destined for the northern North Sea within 6 months of passing to the west of Scotland, with a general decline in this percentage over 1988–2007. Salinities in the Slope Current correspondingly decreased, evidenced in ocean analysis data. Further to the north, in the Atlantic Water conveyed by the Slope Current through the Faroe–Shetland Channel (FSC), salinity is observed to increase over this period while declining in the hindcast. The observed trend may have broadly compensated for a decline in the Atlantic inflow, limiting salinity changes in the northern North Sea during this period. Proxies for both Slope Current transport and Atlantic inflow to the North Sea are sought in sea level height differences across the FSC and between Shetland and the Scottish mainland (Wick). Variability of Slope Current transport on a wide range of timescales, from seasonal to multi-decadal, is implicit in sea level differences between Lerwick (Shetland) and Torshavn (Faroes), in both tide gauge records from 1957 and a longer model hindcast spanning 1958–2012. Wick–Lerwick sea level differences in tide gauge records from 1965 indicate considerable decadal variability in the Fair Isle Current transport that dominates Atlantic inflow to the northwest North Sea, while sea level differences in the hindcast are dominated by strong seasonal variability. Uncertainties in the Wick tide gauge record limit confidence in this proxy.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present evidence for the variable North Atlantic influence on European shelf seas over the last four decades, using ocean analysis and reanalysis products, and an eddy-resolving ocean model hindcast.
Abstract: . Oceanic influences on shelf seas are mediated by flow along and across continental slopes, with consequences for regional hydrography and ecosystems. Here we present evidence for the variable North Atlantic influence on European shelf seas over the last four decades, using ocean analysis and reanalysis products, and an eddy-resolving ocean model hindcast. To first order, flows oriented along isobaths at the continental slope are related to the poleward increase of density in the adjacent deep ocean that supports a geostrophic inflow towards the slope. In the North Atlantic, this density gradient and associated inflow has undergone substantial, sometimes abrupt, changes in recent decades. Inflow in the range 10–15 Sv is identified with eastward transport in temperature classes at 30° W, in the latitude range 45–60° N. Associated with major subpolar warming around 1997, a cool and fresh branch of the Atlantic inflow was substantially reduced, while a warm and more saline inflow branch strengthened, with respective changes of the order 5 Sv. Total inflow fell from ~ 15 Sv pre-1997 to ~ 10 Sv post-1997. In the model hindcast, particle tracking is used to trace the origins of poleward flows along the continental slope to the west of Ireland and Scotland, before and after 1997. Backtracking particles up to 4 years, a range of subtropical and subpolar pathways is identified from a statistical perspective. In broad terms, cold, fresh waters of subpolar provenance were replaced by warm, saline waters, of subtropical provenance. These changes have major implications for the downstream shelf regions that are strongly influenced by Atlantic inflow, the northern North Sea in particular, where “subtropicalization” of ecosystems has already been observed since the late 1990s.
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TL;DR: ERA-Interim as discussed by the authors is the latest global atmospheric reanalysis produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which will extend back to the early part of the twentieth century.
Abstract: ERA-Interim is the latest global atmospheric reanalysis produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The ERA-Interim project was conducted in part to prepare for a new atmospheric reanalysis to replace ERA-40, which will extend back to the early part of the twentieth century. This article describes the forecast model, data assimilation method, and input datasets used to produce ERA-Interim, and discusses the performance of the system. Special emphasis is placed on various difficulties encountered in the production of ERA-40, including the representation of the hydrological cycle, the quality of the stratospheric circulation, and the consistency in time of the reanalysed fields. We provide evidence for substantial improvements in each of these aspects. We also identify areas where further work is needed and describe opportunities and objectives for future reanalysis projects at ECMWF. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society
22,055 citations
01 Jan 2009
3,118 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a comparison of the dissipation and Reynolds flux results shows excellent agreement on average, for wind speeds from 4 to 20 m s−1, for a modified Gill propeller-vane anemometer was used to measure the velocity.
Abstract: Measurements of the momentum flux were made by the Reynolds flux and dissipation methods on a deep water stable tower operated by the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, A modified Gill propeller-vane anemometer was used to measure the velocity. Drag coefficients from 196 Reynolds flux measurements agree well with those reported in Smith (1980) based on independent observations at the same site. Based on 192 runs, a comparison of the dissipation and Reynolds flux results shows excellent agreement on average, for wind speeds from 4 to 20 m s−1. The much more extensive dissipation data set (1086 h from the tower and 505 h from the weathership PAPA, CCGS Quadra) was used to investigate the dependence of the drag coefficient on wind speed, fetch and stability. The drag coefficient reduced to 10 m height and neutral conditions (CDN), is independent of stability and fetch (for fetch/height ≳800) but increases with wind speed above 10 m s−1. Some time series of the momentum flux and drag coefficient are ...
2,638 citations
TL;DR: The Met Office Hadley Centre published version 4 of the EN series of data sets of global quality controlled ocean temperature and salinity profiles and monthly objective analyses, which covers the period 1900 to present as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: [1] We present version 4 of the Met Office Hadley Centre “EN” series of data sets of global quality controlled ocean temperature and salinity profiles and monthly objective analyses, which covers the period 1900 to present. We briefly describe the EN4 data sources, processing, quality control procedures, and the method of generating the analyses. In particular, we highlight improvements relative to previous versions, which include a new duplicate profile removal procedure and the inclusion of three new quality control checks. We discuss in detail a novel method for providing uncertainty estimates for the objective analyses and improving the background error variance estimates used by the analysis system. These were calculated using an iterative method that is relatively robust to initial misspecification of background error variances. We also show how the method can be used to identify issues with the analyses such as those caused by misspecification of error variances and demonstrate the impact of changes in the observing system on the uncertainty in the analyses.
1,062 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focused on the ecosystem regime shift in the North Sea that occurred during the period 1982-1988 and found that the evidence for the change is seen from individual species to key ecosystem parameters such as diversity and from phytoplankton to fish.
575 citations