Water Mass Properties Derived From Satellite Observations in the Barents Sea

Abstract

The Barents Sea is a region of deep water formation where Atlantic Water is converted into cooler, fresher Barents Sea Water. Barents Sea Water properties exhibit variability at seasonal, interannual, and decadal timescales. This variability is transferred to Arctic Intermediate Water, which eventually contributes to the deeper branch of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Variations in Barents Sea Water properties are reflected in steric height (contribution of density to sea‐level variations) that depends on heat and freshwater contents and is a quantity usually derived from in situ observations of water temperature, salinity, and pressure that remain sparse during winter in the Barents Sea. This analysis explores the utility of satellite observations for representing Barents Sea Water properties and identifying trends and sources of variability through novel methods. We present our methods for combining satellite observations of eustatic height (the contribution of mass to sea‐level variations), sea surface height, and sea surface temperature, validated by in situ temperature and salinity profiles, to estimate steric height. We show that sea surface temperature is a good proxy for heat content in the upper part of the water column in the southeastern Barents Sea and that freshwater content can be reconstructed from satellite data. Our analysis indicates that most of the seasonality in Barents Sea Water properties arises from the balance between ocean heat transport and atmospheric heat flux, while its interannual variability is driven by heat and freshwater advection.

Formation and Dynamics of a Coherent Coastal Freshwater Influenced System

“…The SSH used for the barotropic current comes from the steric height (integrated density) and eustatic height (integrated mass which can be derived form bottom pressure) (Armitage et al., 2016; Barton et al., 2020). Steric height ( η st ) can be calculated as follows where g is gravitational acceleration, p 1 and p 2 are the ocean surface and bottom pressures in Pa, ρ ref ( z ) is a reference density calculated for T = 0°C and S = 35 with variable pressure: $$${\eta }_{st}=\frac{1}{g}\int \nolimits_{{p}_{2}}^{{p}_{1}}\frac{1}{\rho (z)}-\frac{1}{{\rho }_{\mathit{ref}}(z)}dp$$$ …”

An Ice‐Ocean Model Study of the Mid‐2000s Regime Change in the Barents Sea

“…Clearly, strong variability in BSW properties exists but the mechanisms driving this variability remain elusive (Barton et al., 2018, 2020). It has been suggested that the 2005 apparent regime change was caused by a warming of AW but we lack the observations to resolve the ocean processes leading to the 2005 regime change or the processes at play for the formation of BSW from AW more generally (Loeng, 1991; Schauer et al., 2002).…”

“…Interannual variability in BSW density stems from variability in both heat and freshwater content (Barton et al., 2020). In addition to variability on interannual time‐scales, observations have revealed that temperature in the Barents Sea varies on multidecadal time‐scales with periodicities of about 6, 10, 18, and 40 years (Levitus et al., 2009; Skagseth et al., 2008; Venegas & Mysak, 2000), while salinity may have periods of variability of about 5 and 10 years (Skagseth, 2008; Yashayaev & Seidov, 2015).…”

Retrieval of Daily Mean VIIRS SST Products in China Seas

“…With the development of remote sensing technology, satellite-retrieved SST products are widely used with wide coverage and strong real-time performance. In addition, they are mainly utilized in the studies of water mass properties [6], ocean circulation [7], tropical cyclone [8], weather prediction [9] and ocean numerical simulation [10,11]. In these research areas, the quality of satellite SST products has becoming a prerequisite influencing the scientific findings.…”