Diagnosing overturning and water mass transformation in the Labrador Sea from Argo and PALACE floats
Abstract
We use Argo and PALACE floats, which have been sampling the Labrador Sea since the mid 1990s, to examine the Labrador Sea overturning and its variability on seasonal and decadal timescales. Floats have collected observations in all seasons as well as in the boundary current, allowing for an examination of the seasonal signal of the overturning and of the boundary current's contribution to the overturning. We construct seasonal composite geostrophic velocity sections across the mouth of the Labrador Sea from potential density profiles and float trajectories at 1000 m. The velocity sections are used to calculate the horizontal and overturning circulations and the water mass transformation. We also track the seasonal and spatial patterns of properties in the boundary current to evaluate theoretical estimates of sinking in the boundary current. The recent Argo observations, collected during a period of relatively weak deep convection, are compared to PALACE float observations from the mid-1990s, a period of stronger deep convection.
- Publication:
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American Geophysical Union, Ocean Sciences Meeting
- Pub Date:
- February 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUOSPO41A..03H
- Keywords:
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- 1616 Climate variability;
- GLOBAL CHANGEDE: 4255 Numerical modeling;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERALDE: 4262 Ocean observing systems;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERALDE: 4513 Decadal ocean variability;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL