Interdecadal variability in Labrador Sea precipitation minus evaporation and salinity

Myers, P.G., Josey, S.A., Wheler, B. and Kulan, N. (2007) Interdecadal variability in Labrador Sea precipitation minus evaporation and salinity. Progress in Oceanography, 73 (3-4), 341-357. (doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2006.06.003).

Abstract

Changes in the air–sea freshwater flux (equivalently Precipitation minus Evaporation, P ? E) over the interior of the Labrador Sea have been examined using the NCEP/NCAR and ERA40 reanalyses. A major increase in the net precipitation, equivalent to 9 cm yr?1, is observed in the mid-1970s, consistent with a recent study that reported a similar change in the eastern sub-polar gyre. The increase in the Labrador Sea is primarily driven by changes in the P component which occur in spring (and to a lesser extent summer). The seasonality of the change is markedly different to that found for the eastern gyre which had a strong winter increase in precipitation. Potential links between the Labrador Sea P ? E increase and the NAO and other leading modes of atmospheric variability have been explored, but it has been found that the increase is not driven by long-term trends in these modes. The magnitudes of the increase in freshwater content for a range of depths (500, 1000, 1500, 2000 m) in the Labrador Sea are then calculated. Finally, it is suggested that the P ? E increase must have played some role in causing the observed freshening of the Labrador Sea and the wider North Atlantic sub-polar gyre region in recent decades, although the exact impact can not be quantified.

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