The Rossby radius in the Arctic Ocean
The Rossby radius in the Arctic Ocean
The first (and second) baroclinic deformation (or Rossby) radii are presented north of ~60° N, focusing on deep basins and shelf seas in the high Arctic Ocean, the Nordic seas, Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, derived from climatological ocean data. In the high Arctic Ocean, the first Rossby radius increases from ~5 km in the Nansen Basin to ~15 km in the central Canadian Basin. In the shelf seas and elsewhere, values are low (1–7 km), reflecting weak density stratification, shallow water, or both. Seasonality strongly impacts the Rossby radius only in shallow seas, where winter homogenization of the water column can reduce it to below 1 km. Greater detail is seen in the output from an ice–ocean general circulation model, of higher resolution than the climatology. To assess the impact of secular variability, 10 years (2003–2012) of hydrographic stations along 150° W in the Beaufort Gyre are also analysed. The first-mode Rossby radius increases over this period by ~20%. Finally, we review the observed scales of Arctic Ocean eddies.
967-975
Nurser, A.J.G.
2493ef9a-21e9-4d8b-9c32-08677e7e145a
Bacon, S.
1e7aa6e3-4fb4-4230-8ba7-90837304a9a7
28 November 2014
Nurser, A.J.G.
2493ef9a-21e9-4d8b-9c32-08677e7e145a
Bacon, S.
1e7aa6e3-4fb4-4230-8ba7-90837304a9a7
Abstract
The first (and second) baroclinic deformation (or Rossby) radii are presented north of ~60° N, focusing on deep basins and shelf seas in the high Arctic Ocean, the Nordic seas, Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, derived from climatological ocean data. In the high Arctic Ocean, the first Rossby radius increases from ~5 km in the Nansen Basin to ~15 km in the central Canadian Basin. In the shelf seas and elsewhere, values are low (1–7 km), reflecting weak density stratification, shallow water, or both. Seasonality strongly impacts the Rossby radius only in shallow seas, where winter homogenization of the water column can reduce it to below 1 km. Greater detail is seen in the output from an ice–ocean general circulation model, of higher resolution than the climatology. To assess the impact of secular variability, 10 years (2003–2012) of hydrographic stations along 150° W in the Beaufort Gyre are also analysed. The first-mode Rossby radius increases over this period by ~20%. Finally, we review the observed scales of Arctic Ocean eddies.
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Published date: 28 November 2014
Organisations:
Marine Systems Modelling, Marine Physics and Ocean Climate
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Local EPrints ID: 372673
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/372673
ISSN: 1812-0792
PURE UUID: 907cd8f4-1e3b-41e9-89bc-832b280a8429
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Date deposited: 11 Dec 2014 11:53
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 18:40
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Author:
A.J.G. Nurser
Author:
S. Bacon
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