PosterPDF Available

ARCTIC SEA SURFACE SALINITY RETRIEVAL FROM SMOS MEASURES

July 2019

DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.21015.11681

Conference: IGARSS 2019
At: Yokohama

Authors:

Justino Martinez

Institut de Ciències del Mar

Spanish National Research Council

Estrella Olmedo

Institut de Ciències del Mar

Verónica González-Gambau

Spanish National Research Council

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Despite representing only the 1% of the total ocean’s water, the discharge by Arctic rivers accounts for about the 11% of the freshwater flow into the ocean. This huge volume of low density freshwater restricts the mixing between surface and deep ocean layers, because of the induced strong stratification. The accumulation of low salinity water on top layers helps the formation of sea ice, increasing the Earth’s albedo. Remote sensing is actively contributing to complete the scarce measurements available in such extreme medium as the Arctic.

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Data

August 2019

Justino Martinez · C. Gabarro · Estrella Olmedo · Verónica González-Gambau · Simon Yueh

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December 2023 · Ocean Science

Against the background of wind-forcing change along with Arctic sea ice retreat, the mesoscale processes undergoing distinct variation in the Beaufort Gyre (BG) region are increasingly important to oceanic transport and energy cascades, and these changes subsequently put oceanic stratification into a new state. Here, the varying number and strength of eddies in the central Canada Basin (CB) and ... [Show full abstract] Chukchi–Beaufort continental slope are obtained based on mooring observations (2003–2018), altimetry measurements (1993–2019), and reanalysis data (1980–2020). In this paper, the variability in the BG halocline, representing the adjustment of stratification in the upper layer, is shown in order to analyse how variability occurs under changing mesoscale processes. We find that over almost the last 2 decades the halocline depth has deepened by ∼ 40 m in the south of the central gyre, while that in the north has deepened by ∼ 70 m according to multiple datasets. Surrounding the central gyre, the asymmetry of the halocline, with much steeper and deeper isopycnals over the southern continental slope, reduced after 2014. In the meantime, eddy activities in the upper layer from the southern margin of the BG to the abyssal plain have been enhanced. Moreover, the convergence of the eddy lateral flux has increased as the halocline structures on either side, which is at least 120 km from the central gyre, have reached a nearly identical and stable regime. It has been clarified that long-term dynamic eddy modulation through eddy fluxes, facilitating the freshwater redistribution, affects the meridional asymmetry of the BG halocline. Our results provide a better understanding of the eddy modulation processes and their influence on the halocline structure.

Last Updated: 23 Sep 2024