On the Variability in the Onset of the Norwegian Coastal Current

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 723-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Håkon Christensen ◽  
Ann Kristin Sperrevik ◽  
Göran Broström

AbstractA high-resolution reanalysis of the circulation in the Kattegat and Skagerrak is used to investigate the mechanisms that control the variability in the onset of the Norwegian Coastal Current. In the reanalysis, the authors have used all available in situ and remote sensing observations of salinity and temperature and use surface current observations from two coastal high-frequency radars that were ideally placed to monitor the exchange between the two basins. This study finds a strong correlation between the variability in the wind forcing in the Skagerrak and the transport in the Norwegian Coastal Current through the Torungen–Hirtshals section. Two cases with winds into and out of the Skagerrak are studied in more detail, and the results suggest asymmetries in the forcing mechanisms. For winds out of the Skagerrak, strong outflows of Baltic Sea Water associated with a deflection of the Kattegat–Skagerrak Front may disrupt local processes in the Skagerrak, which is not accounted for in previously published conceptual models for the variability of the coastal currents in this region.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 2257
Author(s):  
Ji-Yeon Baek ◽  
Young-Heon Jo ◽  
Wonkook Kim ◽  
Jong-Seok Lee ◽  
Dawoon Jung ◽  
...  

In this study, a low-altitude remote sensing (LARS) observation system was employed to observe a rapidly changing coastal environment-owed to the regular opening of the sluice gate of the Saemangeum seawall-off the west coast of South Korea. The LARS system uses an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a multispectral camera, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) module to acquire geometry information. The UAV system can observe the coastal sea surface in two dimensions with high temporal (1 s−1) and spatial (20 cm) resolutions, which can compensate for the coarse spatial resolution of in-situ measurements and the low temporal resolution of satellite observations. Sky radiance, sea surface radiance, and irradiance were obtained using a multispectral camera attached to the LARS system, and the remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) was accordingly calculated. In addition, the hyperspectral radiometer and in-situ chlorophyll-a concentration (CHL) measurements were obtained from a research vessel to validate the Rrs observed using the multispectral camera. Multi-linear regression (MLR) was then applied to derive the relationship between Rrs of each wavelength observed using the multispectral sensor on the UAV and the in-situ CHL. As a result of applying MLR, the correlation and root mean square error (RMSE) between the remotely sensed and in-situ CHLs were 0.94 and ~0.8 μg L−1, respectively; these results show a higher correlation coefficient and lower RMSE than those of other, previous studies. The newly derived algorithm for the CHL estimation enables us to survey 2D CHL images at high temporal and spatial resolutions in extremely turbid coastal oceans.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Pincus ◽  
Chris W. Fairall ◽  
Adriana Bailey ◽  
Haonan Chen ◽  
Patrick Y. Chuang ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper describes observations obtained during the Atlantic Tradewind Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Interaction Campaign (ATOMIC) by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Lockheed WP-3D Orion research aircraft based on the island of Barbados during the period Jan 17–Feb 11 2020. The aircraft obtained 95 hours of observations over eleven flights, many of which were coordinated with the NOAA research ship R/V Ronald H. Brown and autonomous platforms deployed from the ship. Each flight contained a mixture of sampling strategies including: high-altitude circles with frequent dropsonde deployment to characterize the large-scale environment; slow descents and ascents to measure the distribution of water vapor and its isotopic composition; stacked legs aimed at sampling the microphysical and thermodynamic state of the boundary layer; and offset straight flight legs for observing clouds and the ocean surface with remote sensing instruments and the thermal structure of the ocean with in situ sensors dropped from the plane. The characteristics of the it in situ observations, expendable devices, and remote sensing instrumentation are described, as is the processing used in deriving estimates of physical quantities. Data archived at the National Center for Environmental Information include flight-level data such as aircraft navigation and basic thermodynamic information (https://doi.org/10.25921/7jf5-wv54); high-accuracy measurements of water vapor concentration from an isotope analyzer (https://doi.org/10.25921/c5yx-7w29); profiles of sea water temperature made with Airborne eXpendable BathyThermographs (AXBTs, https://doi.org/10.25921/pe39-sx75); profiles of radar reflectivity, Doppler velocity, and spectrum width from a nadir-looking W-band (94 GHz) radar (https://doi.org/10.25921/n1hc-dc30); estimates of cloud presence, the cloud top location, and the cloud-top radar reflectivity and temperature, along with estimates of 10-m wind speed obtained from remote sensing instruments operating in the microwave and thermal infrared spectral regions (https://doi.org/10.25921/x9q5-9745); and ocean surface wave characteristics from a Wide Swath Radar Altimeter (https://doi.org/10.25921/qm06-qx04). Data are provided as netCDF files following Climate and Forecast conventions.


Ocean Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 593-614
Author(s):  
Luca Possenti ◽  
Ingunn Skjelvan ◽  
Dariia Atamanchuk ◽  
Anders Tengberg ◽  
Matthew P. Humphreys ◽  
...  

Abstract. We report on a pilot study using a CO2 optode deployed on a Seaglider in the Norwegian Sea from March to October 2014. The optode measurements required drift and lag correction and in situ calibration using discrete water samples collected in the vicinity. We found that the optode signal correlated better with the concentration of CO2, c(CO2), than with its partial pressure, p(CO2). Using the calibrated c(CO2) and a regional parameterisation of total alkalinity (AT) as a function of temperature and salinity, we calculated total dissolved inorganic carbon content, c(DIC), which had a standard deviation of 11 µmol kg−1 compared with in situ measurements. The glider was also equipped with an oxygen (O2) optode. The O2 optode was drift corrected and calibrated using a c(O2) climatology for deep samples. The calibrated data enabled the calculation of DIC- and O2-based net community production, N(DIC) and N(O2). To derive N, DIC and O2 inventory changes over time were combined with estimates of air–sea gas exchange, diapycnal mixing and entrainment of deeper waters. Glider-based observations captured two periods of increased Chl a inventory in late spring (May) and a second one in summer (June). For the May period, we found N(DIC) = (21±5) mmol m−2 d−1, N(O2) = (94±16) mmol m−2 d−1 and an (uncalibrated) Chl a peak concentration of craw(Chl a) = 3 mg m−3. During the June period, craw(Chl a) increased to a summer maximum of 4 mg m−3, associated with N(DIC) = (85±5) mmol m−2 d−1 and N(O2) = (126±25) mmol m−2 d−1. The high-resolution dataset allowed for quantification of the changes in N before, during and after the periods of increased Chl a inventory. After the May period, the remineralisation of the material produced during the period of increased Chl a inventory decreased N(DIC) to (-3±5) mmol m−2 d−1 and N(O2) to (0±2) mmol m−2 d−1. The survey area was a source of O2 and a sink of CO2 for most of the summer. The deployment captured two different surface waters influenced by the Norwegian Atlantic Current (NwAC) and the Norwegian Coastal Current (NCC). The NCC was characterised by lower c(O2) and c(DIC) than the NwAC, as well as lower N(O2) and craw(Chl a) but higher N(DIC). Our results show the potential of glider data to simultaneously capture time- and depth-resolved variability in DIC and O2 concentrations.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 15621-15662
Author(s):  
M. Thyssen ◽  
S. Alvain ◽  
A. Lefèbvre ◽  
D. Dessailly ◽  
M. Rijkeboer ◽  
...  

Abstract. Phytoplankton observation in the ocean can be a challenge in oceanography. Accurate estimations of their biomass and dynamics will help to understand ocean ecosystems and refine global climate models. This requires relevant datasets of phytoplankton at a functional level and on a daily and sub meso scale. In order to achieve this, an automated, high frequency, dedicated scanning flow cytometer (SFC, Cytobuoy, NL), has been developed to cover the entire size range of phytoplankton cells whilst simultaneously taking pictures of the largest of them. This cytometer was directly connected to the water inlet of a~pocket Ferry Box during a cruise in the North Sea, 8–12 May 2011 (DYMAPHY project, INTERREG IV A "2 Seas"), in order to identify the phytoplankton community structure of near surface waters (6 m) with a high resolution spacial basis (2.2 ± 1.8 km). Ten groups of cells, distinguished on the basis of their optical pulse shapes, were described (abundance, size estimate, red fluorescence per unit volume). Abundances varied depending on the hydrological status of the traversed waters, reflecting different stages of the North Sea blooming period. Comparisons between several techniques analyzing chlorophyll a and the scanning flow cytometer, using the integrated red fluorescence emitted by each counted cell, showed significant correlations. The community structure observed from the automated flow cytometry was compared with the PHYSAT reflectance anomalies over a daily scale. The number of matchups observed between the SFC automated high frequency in situ sampling and the remote sensing was found to be two to three times better than when using traditional water sampling strategies. Significant differences in the phytoplankton community structure within the two days for which matchups were available, suggest that it is possible to label PHYSAT anomalies not only with dominant groups, but at the level of the community structure.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1293-1300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stig Skreslet ◽  
Angel Borja ◽  
Luca Bugliaro ◽  
Georg Hansen ◽  
Ralf Meerkötter ◽  
...  

AbstractZooplankton sampling in 1997 identified the frontal zone of the Norwegian Coastal Current as a reproduction habitat for Calanus finmarchicus in June–August. This area is subject to considerable ultraviolet radiation (UVR), as calculated from satellite observations of ozone and cloudiness. While in situ experiments indicated UVR-induced mortality in reproducing C. finmarchicus, monthly UVR doses during the actual reproduction period did not appear to affect the abundance of the resulting generation of adolescent copepodites (CIV-V) that accumulated in a fjord habitat during October 1983–2000. Local UVR in the spawning grounds of Arcto-Norwegian cod at the Lofoten Islands in March–May was positively correlated with the stock's 0-group index, which resulted in the rejection of the hypothesis that local UVR leads to high mortality of cod eggs or reduces the abundance of prey for cod larvae. Rather, the result suggests an indirect positive effect of UVR on the survival of cod eggs and larvae, possibly by controlling harmful microbes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 4275
Author(s):  
Alexander Osadchiev ◽  
Roman Sedakov ◽  
Alexandra Gordey ◽  
Alexandra Barymova

This study is focused on concentric rings, which are regularly observed by remote sensing of small river plumes located in different regions worldwide. We report new aerial observations of these features obtained by quadcopters and supported by synchronous in situ measurements, which were collected during the recent field survey at the Bzyb river plume in the eastern part of the Black Sea. Joint analysis of remote sensing imagery and in situ data suggest that the observed concentric rings are surface manifestations of high-frequency internal waves generated in the vicinity of the river mouth. The obtained results demonstrate that the propagation of these waves does not induce offshore material transport within the plume induced by shear instability, which was hypothesized in a recent numerical modeling study of this process. We provide an explanation for the appearance of misleading material features in the numerical simulations discussed above. Finally, we discuss directions for future research of high-frequency internal waves generated in small river plumes.


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