Near-ice hydrographic data from Seaglider missions in the western Greenland Sea in summer 2014 and 2015

Abstract

During summer 2014 and summer 2015 two autonomous Seagliders were operated over several months close to the ice edge of the East Greenland Current to capture the near-surface freshwater distribution in the western Greenland Sea. The mission in 2015 included an excursion onto the East Greenland Shelf into the Norske Trough. Temperature, salinity and drift data were obtained in the upper 500 to 1000 m with high spatial resolution. The data set presented here gives the opportunity to analyze the freshwater distribution and possible sources for two different summer situations. During summer 2014 the ice retreat at the rim of the Greenland Sea Gyre was only marginal. The Seagliders were never able to reach the shelf break nor regions where the ice just melted. During summer 2015 the ice retreat was clearly visible. Finally, ice was present only on the shallow shelves. The Seaglider crossed regions with recent ice melt and was even able to reach the entrance of the Norske Trough. The data processing for these glider measurements was conducted at Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The first part consists of the Seaglider Toolbox from the University of Each Anglia; the second was exclusively composed for the data from the Greenland Sea.