Mapping the Mid-Atlantic Cold Pool evolution and variability with ocean gliders and numerical models

Brown, W.; Boicourt, William C.; Flagg, Charles N.; Gangopadhyay, Avijit; Schofield, Oscar; Glenn, Scott; Kohut, Josh

doi:10.1109/oceans.2012.6404970

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Based on previous studies (Brown et al, ; Fairbanks, ; Houghton et al, ; Lentz, ), the Cold Pool is considered as a relatively cold and fresh water mass cooler than 10 °C located over the middle and outer shelf of the MAB below the seasonal thermocline during stratified season. Following this definition, three criteria are applied simultaneously to capture and quantify the Cold Pool: Temperature and Salinity Criteria: The temperature of the Cold Pool is defined to be lower than 10 °C (Houghton et al, ; Fairbanks, ; Brown et al, ; Lentz, ). Because of the tendency of the model to be slightly warm biased, we also explore the 11 and 12 °C as temperature criteria for the Cold Pool.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Temperature and Salinity Criteria: The temperature of the Cold Pool is defined to be lower than 10 °C (Houghton et al, ; Fairbanks, ; Brown et al, ; Lentz, ). Because of the tendency of the model to be slightly warm biased, we also explore the 11 and 12 °C as temperature criteria for the Cold Pool.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on previous studies (Brown et al, 2012;Fairbanks, 1982;Houghton et al, 1982;Lentz, 2017), the Cold Pool is considered as a relatively cold and fresh water mass cooler than 10 ∘ C located over the middle and outer shelf of the MAB below the seasonal thermocline during stratified season. Following this definition, three criteria are applied simultaneously to capture and quantify the Cold Pool:…”

Section: Quantification Methods Of the Cold Poolmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Mid‐Atlantic Bight (MAB) Cold Pool is a distinctive cold and relatively fresh water mass located over the middle and outer shelf that is one of the principal, productive, coastal oceanographic regimes situated off the northeast U.S. seaboard (Brown et al, ; Fairbanks, ; Houghton et al, ). It is usually colder than 10 °C and isolated from the surface by a seasonal thermocline.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Seasonal Variability of the Cold Pool Over the Mid‐Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Mid‐Atlantic Bight (MAB) Cold Pool is a distinctive cold (lower than 10 °C) and relatively fresh (lower than 34 practical salinity unit) water mass. It is located over the middle and outer shelf of the MAB, below the seasonal thermocline, and is attached to the bottom. Following this definition, we put forward a method that includes three criteria to capture and quantify Cold Pool characteristics, based on a 50‐year (1958–2007) high‐resolution regional ocean model hindcast. The seasonal climatology of the Cold Pool and its properties are investigated during its onset‐peak‐decline cycle. Three stages of the Cold Pool event are defined according to its evolution and characteristics. The Cold Pool cores travel along the 60‐m isobath starting south of the New England shelf to the Hudson Shelf Valley at a speed of 2–3 cm/s. Furthermore, the northern extent of the Cold Pool retreats about 2.6 times faster than the southern extent during the summer progression. The heat balance of near‐bottom waters over the MAB and Georges Bank is computed and it is found that the heat advection, rather than vertical diffusion, dominates the resulting spatial patterns of warming. Possible origins of the Cold Pool are investigated by performing a lead‐lag correlation analysis. Results suggest that the Cold Pool originates not only from local remnants of winter water near the Nantucket Shoals, but has an upstream source traveling in the spring time from the southwestern flank of the Georges Bank along the 80‐m isobath.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Quantification Methods Of the Cold Poolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Seasonal Variability of the Cold Pool Over the Mid‐Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Over much of the continental shelf this year, the wind influence extends to the bottom. In contrast, during the fall of 2011, a glider deployed in support of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS) (Brown et al, 2012) indicates that the surface waters were warmer at 20°C (Figure 14b) and the salinity nearshore was much lower (Figure 14d). These lower salinities are the result of much more freshwater discharged from multiple storms including Irene and Lee that moved through the area.…”

Section: Oceanographic and Ecological Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual and Seasonal Surface Circulation over the Mid Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf Derived from a Decade of High Frequency Radar Observations

Roarty

Glenn

Brodie

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A decade (2007-2016) of hourly 6-km-resolution maps of the surface currents across the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) generated by a regional-scale High Frequency Radar network are used to reveal new insights into the spatial patterns of the annual and seasonal mean surface flows. Across the 10-year time series, temporal means and interannual and intra-annual variability are used to quantify the variability of spatial surface current patterns. The 10-year annual mean surface flows are weaker and mostly cross-shelf near the coast, increasing in speed and rotating to more alongshore directions near the shelfbreak, and increasing in speed and rotating to flow off-shelf in the southern MAB. The annual mean surface current pattern is relatively stable year to year compared to the hourly variations within a year. The 10-year seasonal means exhibit similar current patterns, with winter and summer more cross-shore while spring and fall transitions are more alongshore. Fall and winter mean speeds are larger and correspond to when mean winds are stronger and cross-shore. Summer mean currents are weakest and correspond to a time when the mean wind opposes the alongshore flow. Again, intra-annual variability is much greater than interannual, with the fall season exhibiting the most interseasonal variability in the surface current patterns. The extreme fall seasons of 2009 and 2011 are related to extremes in the wind and river discharge events caused by different persistent synoptic meteorological conditions, resulting in more or less rapid fall transitions from stratified summer to well-mixed winter conditions. Plain Language Summary A coordinated High Frequency Radar network operated between Cape Cod, MA, and Cape Hatteras, NC, generates hourly maps of ocean surface currents. A decade-long study revealed the detailed structure of the surface flows. These flows were compared to wind and river flow data to explain the patterns observed in the flow. Near the coast, the average currents flow offshore. Away from the coast, the average currents flow along the coast toward the south. Fall is the season with the most variability from year to year. Its higher variability can be traced to different regional weather patterns that change the wind fields and the amount of freshwater delivered by the rivers to the coastal ocean. This is the first study to use a decade of observed surface current maps that uniquely and simultaneously observe the changing patterns of the average flow structure along a segment of eastern United States. The improved understanding of the coastal circulation over a wide area, and what drives its variability, has implications for pollutant transport, plankton transport at the base of the food chain, fish and shellfish reproduction, and multiple ocean-based human activities including fishing, marine transportation, and offshore wind energy development.

show abstract

Population dynamics of Arctica islandica off Long Island (USA): an analysis of sex-based demographics and regional comparisons

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The boreal bivalve Arctica islandica is an important shery in the United States (US), yet very little is known about the resiliency of this species to shing activity due to limited understanding of localized population demographics. Demographics including age frequency, recruitment patterns, mortality rates, and sexual dimorphism were evaluated for a population sampled off Long Island (LI, 40.09658°N 73.01057°W) and compared with samples from Georges Bank (GB, 40.72767°N, 67.79850°W) collected in 2015 and 2017, where GB was described in a previous study. This study supports evidence that this species is sexually dimorphic. Earlier assumptions of prolonged lapses in recruitment were not substantiated for either the GB or LI populations; yearly cohorts were observed for the past century, and both populations presented recruitment pulses in approximately 8-y periods. Estimated ages from this study are older than previously reported for the US Mid-Atlantic with the oldest animal represented by a 310-year-old male collected from LI. Simulated total mortality was higher at GB than LI, and higher for GB females than GB males, with simulated mean longevity estimates greater at LI than GB. The population sex ratio at GB was 1:1.1 (female:male), whereas the LI ratio was 1:1.4 and relatively de cient in large females. Recruitment into the populations occurs routinely with substantial hiatuses being rare and substantive year classes occurring at least decadally with lesser, but contributing, recruitment in most years in between. Routine recruitment may insulate this species from risks posed by over shing to an extent not typical for other long-lived species.Studies spanning the North Atlantic demonstrate distinct regional and sex-speci c growth dynamics for

show abstract

Mapping the Mid-Atlantic Cold Pool evolution and variability with ocean gliders and numerical models

Cited by 11 publications

References 19 publications

Seasonal Variability of the Cold Pool Over the Mid‐Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf

Seasonal Variability of the Cold Pool Over the Mid‐Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf

Annual and Seasonal Surface Circulation over the Mid Atlantic Bight Continental Shelf Derived from a Decade of High Frequency Radar Observations

Population dynamics of Arctica islandica off Long Island (USA): an analysis of sex-based demographics and regional comparisons

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About