Abstract
Recent trends in Arctic Ocean mass distribution revealed by GRACE
Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Department of Physics and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA
Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Measurements of ocean bottom pressure by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and new in situ bottom pressure measurements confirm the accuracy and utility of GRACE measurements in the Arctic Ocean. They reveal a declining trend in bottom pressure that corresponds to mass changes due to decreasing upper ocean salinities near the North Pole and in the Makarov Basin. The spatial distribution and magnitude of these trends suggest the Arctic Ocean is reverting from the cyclonic state characterizing the 1990s to the anticyclonic state that was prevalent prior to the 1990s.
Received 6 December 2006; accepted 6 March 2007; published 4 April 2007.
Citation: (2007), Recent trends in Arctic Ocean mass distribution revealed by GRACE, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L07602, doi:10.1029/2006GL029016.
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