Timeseries of Polar Water properties in Fram Strait

Abstract

Timeseries of temperature and salinity of Polar Water in the East Greenland Current (EGC) and on the East Greenland shelf at 79°N are presented. The observations in the EGC are made in the 45-74 dbar layer carrying liquid freshwater from the Arctic Ocean to subarctic seas. The properties on the outer fringe of the EGC are dominated by shifts of the position of the East Greenland Front (EGF). In the inner part of the EGC and on the shelf the seasonal cycle of the properties are dominated by the annual cycle of sea ice freezing and melting. Comparing the observations with the World Ocean Atlas (WOA) and other climatologies demonstrates that the climatologies in the EGC and on the shelf at 79°N are poor due to poor data coverage. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.