Isopycnal RAFOS floats as roving hydrographers in the North Atlantic Current region
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
1-1-1997
Abstract
The properties measured by isopycnal floats can be compiled to provide hydrographic information about the sampled surfaces. The height and temperature of two specific volume anomaly surfaces reported by 84 RAFOS floats deployed in the North Atlantic Current (NAC) region are compared here with the climatological hydrographic database. The mean pathway of the NAC and other prominent features of the region are similar in float-derived and climatological surfaces. The most striking difference between floats and climatology, an extended trough in the NAC path at 44° N in the float-derived surface, reflects the sampling time scales. The baroclinic transport of the NAC estimated from RAFOS floats using the observed climatological relationship between the potential energy anomaly and the height of the specific volume anomaly surfaces was 42 Sv at 42°N and 24 Sv at 47°N, in reasonable agreement with climatological estimates.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
24
Issue
5
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Carr, Mary E., Edward J. Kearns, and H. T. Rossby. "Isopycnal RAFOS floats as roving hydrographers in the North Atlantic Current region." Geophysical Research Letters 24, 5 (1997). doi: 10.1029/97GL00156.