Vigan Mensah

Abstract The Totten ice shelf (TIS) in East Antarctica has received increasing attention in recent years due to high basal melt rates, which have been linked to a presence of warm modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) observed at the ice front. We show that mCDW on‐shelf intrusions towards the TIS strengthen when the Antarctic Slope Current (ASC) weakens. This demonstrates that the ASC has a blocking effect and ASC weakening leads to on‐shelf intrusions, as proposed by previous observational st

Abstract This paper revisits the thermal mass inertia correction of Sea-Bird Electronics, Inc., (SBE4) conductivity probes for the calculation of salinity. In particular, it is shown that the standard parameters recommended for the correction method are not satisfactory for the data collected during recent campaigns at sea. A method, based on Morison et al., is proposed to determine optimal values for the correction parameters from selected datasets. Values valid for general cases are then propo

Abstract The variability of the intermediate water (IW) east of Luzon and Taiwan is investigated using data acquired from moored instrumented lines and shipboard hydrographic and current velocity surveys. The IW is defined as the water mass with a local salinity minimum along the Kuroshio path. An empirical formula is developed to estimate the IW salinity minimum east of Taiwan using temperature measurements around 580 m depth. Properties of the IW east of Taiwan vary greatly as a result of vari

Abstract The effect of thermal mass on the salinity estimate from conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) tags sensor mounted on marine mammals is documented, and a correction scheme is proposed to mitigate its impact. The algorithm developed here allows for a direct correction of the salinity data, rather than a correction of the sample’s conductivity and temperature. The amplitude of the thermal mass–induced error on salinity and its correction are evaluated via comparison between data from CTD t

The western subarctic Pacific exhibits major biological productivity fed by the Oyashio Current and its two source waters: Western Subarctic Water, which supplies nutrients from the subarctic Pacific, and cold Okhotsk Sea Intermediate Water (OSIW), which supplies iron from the Sea of Okhotsk. We created seasonal climatologies of water properties to understand how the long-term trend (~ 50 years) and 18.6-year tidal cycle affect the Oyashio Intermediate Water (OYW). We found that over the trend,

Abstract This study presents amended procedures to process and map data collected by pressure-sensor-equipped inverted echo sounders (PIESs) in western boundary current regions. The modifications to the existing methodology, applied to observations of the Kuroshio from a PIES array deployed northeast of Luzon, Philippines, consist of substituting a hydrography-based mean travel time field for the PIES-based mean field and using two distinct gravest empirical mode (GEM) lookup tables across the f

Abstract Polar and subpolar oceans play a particularly important role in the global climate and its temporal changes, yet these regions are less well sampled than the rest of the global ocean. To better understand the physical or biogeochemical properties and their variabilities in these regions, accurate data mapping is crucial. In this paper, we introduce a mapping methodology that includes a water column shrinking and stretching constraint (SSC) based on the principle of conservation of poten

Abstract A time series analysis of the sea surface height anomaly (SSHa) was conducted in the Kuril Basin of the Sea of Okhotsk. The mapping of the satellite-derived SSHa data was optimized to mitigate the effects of sea ice on the SSHa field during winter and early spring. Complex empirical orthogonal functions (CEOFs) were then used to analyze the SSHa field, revealing that the first three modes account for 55% of the signal variance. Mode 1 mainly represents the coherent variability trapped o

Abstract The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea that plays a major role in the ventilation of the North Pacific, being the key location where Dense Shelf Water (DSW) forms at the surface and sinks to the intermediate layer. The Okhotsk Sea Intermediate Water (OSIW) is a key water mass because it includes large amounts of DSW, outflows to the North Pacific, and supplies the ocean with the micronutrient iron. OSIW has been warming over the past few decades, which is attributed to a decreasing trend

Abstract. The Labrador Sea and contiguous Baffin Bay play an important role in the formation of the upper layer of the North Atlantic Deep Water, an essential component of the Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation. The hydrography of these two seas is strongly influenced by the melting of sea-ice and glacier-ice, which has likely been affected by long-term climate changes. In this study, we use historical data of ocean temperature and salinity from 1950 to 2022 to estimate the summer freshwater