A satellite-based Lagrangian view on the origin of water-masses in the northern European shelf seas

Abstract

Knowledge about water-mass properties is critical to understanding how ocean climate variability impacts the shelf seas. Disentangling the origin of shelf sea water-masses and associated driving mechanisms is, therefore, a significant step towards improving the predictive skill related to watermass evolution. Especially more conservative water-mass properties, even of surface waters, have the potential to reveal links between the shelf seas and large-scale ocean circulation regimes when traced back to their origin. The northern North Sea for example as the main gateway for watermasses to one of Europe s largest shelf sea areas is largely supplied by water-masses from the open North Atlantic, a connection which can be seen from, e.g., sea surface salinity.