Articles | Volume 14, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-225-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-225-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
15 Mar 2018
Research article |
| 15 Mar 2018
| 15 Mar 2018
Shelf sea tidal currents and mixing fronts determined from ocean glider observations
Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
Barbara Berx
Marine Scotland Science, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, UK
Alejandro Gallego
Marine Scotland Science, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, UK
Rob A. Hall
Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
Karen J. Heywood
Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
Sarah L. Hughes
Marine Scotland Science, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, UK
Bastien Y. Queste
Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
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Using a new approach to combine autonomous underwater glider data and satellite Earth observations, we have generated a 19-month time series of North Sea net primary productivity – the rate at which phytoplankton absorbs carbon dioxide minus that lost through respiration. This time series, which spans 13 gliders, allows for new investigations into small-scale, high-frequency variability in the biogeochemical processes that underpin the carbon cycle and coastal marine ecosystems in shelf seas.
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An underwater glider mission was carried out in spring 2016 near a mooring in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. The glider deployment served as a test of a prototype ion-sensitive field-effect transistor pH sensor. Mean net community production rates were estimated from glider and buoy measurements of dissolved oxygen and inorganic carbon concentrations before and during the spring bloom. Incorporating advection is important for accurate mass budgets. Unexpected metabolic quotients were found.
Yixi Zheng, David P. Stevens, Karen J. Heywood, Benjamin G. M. Webber, and Bastien Y. Queste
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New observations reveal the Thwaites gyre in a habitually ice-covered region in the Amundsen Sea for the first time. This gyre rotates anticlockwise, despite the wind here favouring clockwise gyres like the Pine Island Bay gyre – the only other ocean gyre reported in the Amundsen Sea. We use an ocean model to suggest that sea ice alters the wind stress felt by the ocean and hence determines the gyre direction and strength. These processes may also be applied to other gyres in polar oceans.
Yanxin Wang, Karen J. Heywood, David P. Stevens, and Gillian M. Damerell
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It is important that climate models give accurate projections of future extremes in summer and winter sea surface temperature because these affect many features of the global climate system. Our results demonstrate that some models would give large errors if used for future projections of these features, and models with more detailed representation of vertical structure in the ocean tend to have a better representation of sea surface temperature, particularly in summer.
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Short summary
We calculate tidal velocities using observations of ocean currents collected by an underwater glider. We use these velocities to investigate the location of sharp boundaries between water masses in shallow seas. Narrow currents along these boundaries are important transport pathways around shallow seas for pollutants and organisms. Tides are an important control on boundary location in summer, but seawater salt concentration can also influence boundary location, especially in winter.
We calculate tidal velocities using observations of ocean currents collected by an underwater...
