TY - JOUR

T1 - Seasonal variability of mesoscale eddies of the Lofoten Basin using satellite and model data

AU - Travkin, V. S.

AU - Belonenko, T. V.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2019 by the Geophysical Center RAS.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - The Lofoten Basin in the Norwegian Sea is the area where the warm Atlantic Water exhibits the greatest loss of heat than anywhere else in the Nordic Seas. It is called a "hot spot" of the Nordic Seas because of its high intense mesoscale eddy activity. Mesoscale eddies contribute significantly to the total oceanic heat and salt transport by advective trapping, stirring and mixing, and thus play an important role in the heat and salt balance of the region. A purpose of this study is to examine seasonal variability of mesoscale eddies in the Lofoten Basin using satellite altimetry data and GLORYS reanalysis. Satellite altimetry is used to track individual eddies, and co-located vertical profiles based on GLORYS data allow to study thermohaline characteristics inside the eddy cores. We analyze numbers of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies in the Lofoten Basin using an eddy identification and tracking algorithm and demonstrate that the occurrences of eddies depend strongly on the season. We analyze seasonal variability of temperature, salinity, and potential density anomalies in zonal sections across the core of the Lofoten Vortex and explore spatial variability of thermohaline characteristics of mesoscale eddies at the depth of 450 m in different seasons.

AB - The Lofoten Basin in the Norwegian Sea is the area where the warm Atlantic Water exhibits the greatest loss of heat than anywhere else in the Nordic Seas. It is called a "hot spot" of the Nordic Seas because of its high intense mesoscale eddy activity. Mesoscale eddies contribute significantly to the total oceanic heat and salt transport by advective trapping, stirring and mixing, and thus play an important role in the heat and salt balance of the region. A purpose of this study is to examine seasonal variability of mesoscale eddies in the Lofoten Basin using satellite altimetry data and GLORYS reanalysis. Satellite altimetry is used to track individual eddies, and co-located vertical profiles based on GLORYS data allow to study thermohaline characteristics inside the eddy cores. We analyze numbers of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies in the Lofoten Basin using an eddy identification and tracking algorithm and demonstrate that the occurrences of eddies depend strongly on the season. We analyze seasonal variability of temperature, salinity, and potential density anomalies in zonal sections across the core of the Lofoten Vortex and explore spatial variability of thermohaline characteristics of mesoscale eddies at the depth of 450 m in different seasons.

KW - Altimetry

KW - Automatic detection

KW - Lofoten basin

KW - Mesoscale eddies

KW - Norwegian sea

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078538964&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.2205/2019ES000676

DO - 10.2205/2019ES000676

M3 - Article

VL - 19

JO - Russian Journal of Earth Sciences

JF - Russian Journal of Earth Sciences

SN - 1681-1178

IS - 5

M1 - ES5004

ER -