Warm water pathways in the northeastern North Atlantic ACCE RAFOS float data report November 1996 - November 1999

Abstract

This is the final data report of all acoustically tracked RAFOS float data collected by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1996-1999 during the Atlantic Climate Change Experiment (ACCE). The RAFOS float component of ACCE, entitled "Warm Water Pathways and Intergyre Exchange in the Northeastern North Atlantic," was designed to measure the warm water currents entering the northeastern North Atlantic which become the source of intermediate and deep waters in the subpolar region. The experiment was comprised of three RAFOS float deployments on the R/V Knorr: the first in fall 1996 along the continental slope seaward of Porcupine Bank, the second in spring 1997 along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, and the final deployment in fall 1997 along both the Ridge and the Bank. Seventy floats were deployed, 13 RAFOS and 2 ALFOS in fall 1996, 14 RAFOS in spring 1997, and 41 RAFOS in fall 1997. The isobaric ALFOS floats were ballasted for 800 decibars and were launched to monitor the regions' sound sources during the experiment. The RAFOS floats were isopycnal and ballasted for the 27.5 sigma-t surface to target the intermediate-depth North Atlantic and Poleward Eastern Boundary Currents. The objectives of the Lagrangian float study were (1) to provide a quantitative description of the bifurcation of the North Atlantic Current east of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, (2) to assess the importance of meridional eddy fluxes, compared to large-scale advection, in the northward flux of heat and salt in the northeastern North Atlantic, and (3) to establish the degree of continuity of the Poleward Eastern Boundary Current as it flows to the entrance of the Norwegian Sea and the fate of the Mediterranean Outflow Water carried by this current.