North Atlantic subpolar gyre along predetermined ship tracks since 1993: a monthly data set of surface temperature, salinity, and density

Gilles Reverdin (1, 2) , Hedinn Valdimarsson (3) , Gaël Alory (4) , Denis Diverrès (5) , Francis Bringas (6) , Gustavo Goni (6) , Lars Heilmann (7) , Léon Chafik (8) , Tanguy Szekely (9) , Andrew R. Friedman (10)

1 IPSO - Interactions et Processus au sein de la couche de Surface Océanique
2 PROTEO - Processus et interactions de fine échelle océanique
3 MFRI - Marine and Freshwater Research Institute
4 LEGOS - Laboratoire d'études en Géophysique et océanographie spatiales
5 IMAGO - Instrumentation, Moyens analytiques, Observatoires en Géophysique et Océanographie
6 NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
7 GINR - Greenland Institute of Natural Resources
8 BCCR - Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research
9 UMS 3113
10 School of Geosciences [Edinburgh]

We present a binned product of sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, and sea surface density data in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre from 1993 to 2017 that resolves seasonal variability along specific ship routes (https://doi.org/10.6096/SSS-BIN-NASG). The characteristics of this product are described and validated through comparisons to other monthly products. Data presented in this work were collected in regions crossed by two predetermined ship transects, between Denmark and western Greenland (AX01) and between Iceland, Newfoundland, and the northeastern USA (AX02). The data were binned along a selected usable transect. The analysis and the strong correlation between successive seasons indicate that in large parts of the subpolar gyre, the binning approach is robust and resolves the seasonal timescales, in particular after 1997 and in regions away from the continental shelf. Prior to 2002, there was no winter sampling over the West Greenland Shelf. Variability in sea surface salinity increases towards Newfoundland south of 54°N, as well as in the western Iceland Basin along 59°N. Variability in sea surface temperature presents less spatial structure with an increase westward and towards Newfoundland. The contribution of temperature variability to density dominates in the eastern part of the gyre, whereas the contribution of salinity variability dominates in the southwestern part along AX02.

Domaines: Géophysique [physics.geo-ph]

Gilles Reverdin, Hedinn Valdimarsson, Gaël Alory, Denis Diverrès, Francis Bringas, et al.. North Atlantic subpolar gyre along predetermined ship tracks since 1993: a monthly data set of surface temperature, salinity, and density. Earth System Science Data, 2018, 10 (3), pp.1403 - 1415. ⟨10.5194/essd-10-1403-2018⟩. ⟨hal-01860380⟩