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.
