scholarly journals Estimating ocean heat transports and submarine melt rates in Sermilik Fjord, Greenland, using lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP) velocity profiles

2012 ◽  
Vol 53 (60) ◽  
pp. 50-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Sutherland ◽  
Fiammetta Straneo

AbstractSubmarine melting at the ice–ocean interface is a significant term in the mass balance of marine-terminating outlet glaciers. However, obtaining direct measurements of the submarine melt rate, or the ocean heat transport towards the glacier that drives this melting, has been difficult due to the scarcity of observations, as well as the complexity of oceanic flows. Here we present a method that uses synoptic velocity and temperature profiles, but accounts for the dominant mode of velocity variability, to obtain representative heat transport estimates. We apply this method to the Sermilik Fjord–Helheim Glacier system in southeastern Greenland. Using lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP) and hydrographic data collected in summer 2009, we find a mean heat transport towards the glacier of 29 × 109W, implying a submarine melt rate at the glacier face of 650 ma–1. The resulting adjusted velocity profile is indicative of a multilayer residual circulation, where the meltwater mixture flows out of the fjord at the surface and at the stratification maximum.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogi Hansen ◽  
Karin Margretha Húsgarð Larsen ◽  
Steffen Malskær Olsen ◽  
Detlef Quadfasel ◽  
Kerstin Jochumsen ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Iceland-Faroe Ridge (IFR) is considered to be the third-most important passage for dense overflow water from the Nordic Seas feeding into the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation with a volume transport on the order of 1 Sv (106 m3 s−1). The Western Valley, which is the northernmost deep passage across the IFR, has been presumed to supply a strong and persistent overflow (WV-overflow), contributing a large fraction of the total overflow across the IFR. However, prolonged measurements of this transport are so far missing. In order to quantify the flow by direct measurements, three instrumental packages were deployed close to the sill of the Western Valley for 278 days (2016–2017) including an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler at the expected location of the overflow core. The average volume transport of WV-overflow during this field experiment was found to be less than 0.03 Sv. Aided by the observations and a two-layer hydraulic model, we argue that the reason for this low value is the inflow of warm Atlantic Water to the Norwegian Sea in the upper layers suppressing the deep overflow. The link between deep and surface flows explains an observed relationship between overflow and sea level slope as measured by satellite altimetry. This relationship, combined with historical hydrographic measurements allows us to conclude that the volume transport of WV-overflow most likely has been less than 0.1 Sv on average since the beginning of regular satellite altimetry in 1993. Our new direct measurements do not allow us to present an updated estimate of the total overflow across the IFR, but they indicate that it may well be considerably less than 1 Sv.


Ocean Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 871-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogi Hansen ◽  
Karin Margretha Húsgarð Larsen ◽  
Steffen Malskær Olsen ◽  
Detlef Quadfasel ◽  
Kerstin Jochumsen ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Iceland–Faroe Ridge (IFR) is considered to be the third most important passage for dense overflow water from the Nordic Seas feeding into the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation with a volume transport on the order of 1 Sv (106 m3 s−1). The Western Valley, which is the northernmost deep passage across the IFR, has been presumed to supply a strong and persistent overflow (WV-overflow), contributing a large fraction of the total overflow across the IFR. However, prolonged measurements of this transport are so far missing. In order to quantify the flow by direct measurements, three instrumental packages were deployed close to the sill of the Western Valley for 278 days (2016–2017) including an acoustic Doppler current profiler at the expected location of the overflow core. The average volume transport of WV-overflow during this field experiment was found to be (0.02±0.05) Sv. Aided by the observations and a two-layer hydraulic model, we argue that the reason for this low value is the inflow of warm Atlantic water to the Norwegian Sea in the upper layers suppressing the deep overflow. The link between deep and surface flows explains an observed relationship between overflow and sea level slope as measured by satellite altimetry. This relationship, combined with historical hydrographic measurements, allows us to conclude that the volume transport of WV-overflow most likely has been less than 0.1 Sv on average since the beginning of regular satellite altimetry in 1993. Our new direct measurements do not allow us to present an updated estimate of the total overflow across the IFR, but they indicate that it may well be considerably less than 1 Sv.


Author(s):  
K. A. Korotenko ◽  
A. V. Sentchev

A high-frequency (1.2 MHz) four-beam Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) moored on the seabed has been used for direct measurements of turbulence in a shallow coastal zone of the eastern English Channel. From the measurements conducted, 5 tidal cycles covering calm and storm periods were selected. Impacts of the tidal cycle asymmetry and the variability of wind forcing on the turbulence intensity, Reynolds stresses, and the power density of the flow are assessed quantitatively. A comparison of the energy characteristics of the tidal flow during calm and storm periods revealed that the power density of the stream during the storm was about half of that during the calm period. Wave bias correction of Reynolds stresses allows estimating a contribution of small-scale turbulence to its total intensity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 1417-1425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dunxin Hu ◽  
Shijian Hu ◽  
Lixin Wu ◽  
Lei Li ◽  
Linlin Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract The Luzon Undercurrent (LUC) was discovered about 20 years ago by geostrophic calculation from conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) data. But it was not directly measured until 2010. From November 2010 to July 2011, the LUC was first directly measured by acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) from a subsurface mooring at 18.0°N, 122.7°E to the east of Luzon Island. A number of new features of the LUC were identified from the measurements of the current. Its depth covers a range from 400 m to deeper than 700 m. The observed maximum velocity of the LUC, centered at about 650 m, could exceed 27.5 cm s−1, four times stronger than the one derived from previous geostrophic calculation with hydrographic data. According to the time series available, the seasonality of the LUC strength is in winter > summer > spring. Significant intraseasonal variability (ISV; 70–80 days) of the LUC is exposed. Evidence exists to suggest that a large portion of the intraseasonal variability in the LUC is related to the westward propagation of mesoscale eddies from the east of the mooring site.


2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annett B. Sullivan ◽  
Michael L. Deas ◽  
Jessica Asbill ◽  
Julie D. Kirshtein ◽  
Kenna D. Butler ◽  
...  

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