|
An important
component of the coastal hydrodynamics investigations is the development of a
quantitative representation of the spatial and temporal structure of water mass
properties on the Atlantic shelf, drawing on the historical T-S database. Climatological
seasonal-mean fields of temperature, salinity and density have been estimated on
finite-element model meshes of the Scotian and Newfoundland Shelves, and the
Gulfs of Maine and St. Lawrence. These provide baseline descriptions of the
important seasonal variation of hydrographic properties, and of the forcing of the
baroclinic component of circulation. For descriptions of the hydrographic structure and
variability, see Loder et al. (1997a),
Han et al. (1997) and
Hannah et al. (2001).
Longer-term
variability in water mass structure and associated circulation on the Atlantic shelf is
being investigated as part of ecosystems dynamics studies. Effort to date has focussed
on decadal variability in the Scotia-Maine region, involving cooler water temperatures
during the 1960s (compared to the 1970s and 1980s) associated with an increased
Labrador Current influence. See Marsh et al. (1999),
Loder et al. (2001a) and
Loder et al. (2001c)
|
Example Images and Animations |
| |
Surface |
Bottom |
Cr-Sh Sections |
Steric Height |
|
CLIMATOLOGY: |
T |
S |
T |
S |
T |
S |
| Scotia-Maine
|
|
| Winter vs Summer |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Annual Cycles |
|
| Scotian Shelf |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Gulf of Maine |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Gully |
|
|
|
|
| Nfld Shelf
|
|
| Seasonal Fields |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Laurentian Channel
|
|
| Seasonal Fields |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| DECADAL: |
|
| Gulf of Maine Winters
|
|
| Cold'60s vs Warm'70s |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Halifax Section |
|
|
|
|
| SWNS Section |
|
|
|
|
| S Georges Bank Section |
|
|
|
|
| Differences: Cold'60s - Warm'70s
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Gulf of Maine Summers
|
|
| Differences: Cold'60s - Warm'70s
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
