Winter surface salinity in the northeastern Gulf of Maine from five years of SMAP satellite data

Grodsky, Semyon A.; Vandemark, D.; Reul, Nicolás; Feng, Hui; Levin, Julia

doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2021.103508

Cited by 6 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…But the modest level of explained variance (∼34%, Figure 14a) suggests that other factors contribute as well. Both Feng et al (2016) and Grodsky et al (2021) indicate that GoM salinity variability correlates better with NSC geostrophic current rather than its wind-driven variability. This study shows that at least a portion of CSI reduction may be attributed to anomalous south-easterly upwelling winds working against this Nova Scotia Current from fall 2017 to early winter 2018.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Particularly, the winter of 2017–2018 was preceded by a months‐long (November–January) period of predominantly northeastward wind anomalies on the Scotian Shelf (Grodsky, Vandemark, Feng, et al., 2018, 2021) (Figure 15). This prolonged anomaly produced Scotian Shelf upwelling and weakened freshwater advection toward the GoM and Jordan Basin (Grodsky et al., 2021). A resulting salty area along the southeastern Nova Scotia coast (Figures 15a and 15b) expands into the eGoM by December 2017.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study shows that at least a portion of CSI reduction may be attributed to anomalous south-easterly upwelling winds working against this Nova Scotia Current from fall 2017 to early winter 2018. As illustrated in Grodsky et al (2021) and Wang et al (2022), the wind-driven control of the NSC (Li et al, 2014) is important, but this coastal current is also affected by other competitively important factors. In particular, the blockage of the down shelf freshwater transport on the Scotian Shelf by the impinging fall 2017 anticyclonic eddy (Wang et al, 2022) is quite consistent with the adjoint analysis results showing a large net January 2018 SSW deficit in the eastern GoM (Figure 9).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As illustrated in Grodsky et al. (2021) and Wang et al. (2022), the wind‐driven control of the NSC (Li et al., 2014) is important, but this coastal current is also affected by other competitively important factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, the second and third EOF modes of inflow current variability (accounting for ∼25% of the variance, not shown) project onto cross-shore winds. These impacts are discussed in Feng et al (2016) and Grodsky et al (2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Haline Сontrol of Unusually Deep Winter Mixing in the Gulf of Maine Investigated Using a Regional Data‐Assimilative Model

et al. 2022

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An unusually large positive salinity anomaly was observed across the eastern Gulf of Maine in winter 2017–2018. Buoy measurements in Jordan Basin found this anomaly extended down to at least 100 m, the deepest mixing observed in the past 19 years. Similarly, this is the strongest positive regional salt anomaly ever observed in sea surface salinity (SSS) satellite observations. To determine the source waters driving this event and to diagnose the relative importance of forcing processes, passive tracer adjoint sensitivity experiments are performed using a data assimilating version of the Regional Ocean Modeling System. The model suggests that northeastward Scotian Shelf wind anomalies is one factor in the dramatic decrease in freshwater transport to Jordan Basin, which leads to an early winter upper water column salinity surplus. This salinity change weakens the normally haline‐controlled vertical stratification across the eastern Gulf. Modeled upper ocean density and vertical diffusivity from 2007 to 2021 both show a maximum in January 2018. Winter 2017–2018 is the only period where the enhanced winter mixing extends below 100 m. Thus, anomalous vertical entrainment of saltier subsurface Gulf water is the major factor driving the extreme positive satellite‐observed SSS anomaly across the eastern Gulf including Jordan Basin. Other factors, including a modest increase in wind‐forced slope water transport, and positive fall 2017 salinity anomalies on the Scotian Shelf and Slope Sea, appear to play lesser roles in the observed salinification. The adjoint sensitivity analysis demonstrates its utility for back tracing transport pathways for periods of several months.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Haline Сontrol of Unusually Deep Winter Mixing in the Gulf of Maine Investigated Using a Regional Data‐Assimilative Model

et al. 2022

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Haline Сontrol of Unusually Deep Winter Mixing in the Gulf of Maine Investigated using a Regional Data-Assimilative Model

Levin

Grodsky

Vandemark

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The Gulf of Maine (GoM) is a shelf sea in the Northwest Atlantic. It is topographically confined and largely isolated from the Atlantic Ocean by the wide and shallow Georges and Browns Banks. There are three primary transport pathways in and out of the Gulf. These are the Northeast Channel (NEC) that connects with the Northwest Atlantic Slope Sea, the shallower Northern Channel through which enters water from the upstream Nova Scotian Shelf to the east, and the shallow Great South Channel (GSC) to the west of Georges Bank that exchanges with the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB). The Gulf interior includes three relatively deep (250-300 m depth) basins-Jordan Basin (JB), Wilkinson Basin, and Georges Basin-that factor strongly into interannual changes in Gulf water mass characteristics (Townsend et al., 2006(Townsend et al., , 2015. These features are indicated on the map of the Gulf, the adjoining Slope Sea, and the Scotian Shelf in Figure 1.Inflows and water mass transformations within Jordan Basin are known to be important factors controlling overall GoM circulation and biochemical variability on several time scales (e.g.

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Exploring the potential of Sentinel-3 delay Doppler altimetry for enhanced detection of coastal currents along the Northwest Atlantic shelf

Feng

Egid

Vandemark

et al. 2023

Advances in Space Research

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Winter surface salinity in the northeastern Gulf of Maine from five years of SMAP satellite data

Cited by 6 publications

References 52 publications

Haline Сontrol of Unusually Deep Winter Mixing in the Gulf of Maine Investigated Using a Regional Data‐Assimilative Model

Haline Сontrol of Unusually Deep Winter Mixing in the Gulf of Maine Investigated Using a Regional Data‐Assimilative Model

Haline Сontrol of Unusually Deep Winter Mixing in the Gulf of Maine Investigated using a Regional Data-Assimilative Model

Exploring the potential of Sentinel-3 delay Doppler altimetry for enhanced detection of coastal currents along the Northwest Atlantic shelf

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