Articles | Volume 19, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1393-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-19-1393-2023
Research article
 | 
21 Sep 2023
Research article |  | 21 Sep 2023

Evaluating altimetry-derived surface currents on the south Greenland shelf with surface drifters

Arthur Coquereau and Nicholas P. Foukal

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Approach: In situ Observations | Properties and processes: Mesoscale to submesoscale dynamics
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Cited articles

Arbic, B. K., Scott, R. B., Chelton, D. B., Richman, J. G., and Shriver, J. F.: Effects of Stencil Width on Surface Ocean Geostrophic Velocity and Vorticity Estimation from Gridded Satellite Altimeter Data, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 117, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007367, 2012. a
Arctic Ocean Physics Analysis and Forecast: E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (CMEMS), Marine Data Store (MDS), [data set], https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00001, last access: 26 April 2022. a
Böning, C. W., Behrens, E., Biastoch, A., Getzlaff, K., and Bamber, J. L.: Emerging Impact of Greenland Meltwater on Deepwater Formation in the North Atlantic Ocean, Nat. Geosci., 9, 523–527, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2740, 2016. a, b
Castelao, R. M., Luo, H., Oliver, H., Rennermalm, A. K., Tedesco, M., Bracco, A., Yager, P. L., Mote, T. L., and Medeiros, P. M.: Controls on the Transport of Meltwater From the Southern Greenland Ice Sheet in the Labrador Sea, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 124, 3551–3560, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015159, 2019. a
Copin, Y.: Taylor Diagram for Python/Matplotlib, Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5548061, 2012. a
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Short summary
Understanding meltwater circulation around Greenland is crucial as it could influence climate variability but difficult as data are scarce. Here, we use 34 surface drifters to evaluate satellite-derived surface currents and show that satellite data recover the general structure of the flow and can recreate the pathways of particles around the southern tip of Greenland. This result permits a wide range of work to proceed looking at long-term changes in the circulation of the region since 1993.