Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Summer Salinity Fronts in the Greenland Sea

Abstract

Using daily average data from the global ocean eddy resolution reanalysis product (GLORYS12V1) from 1993 to 2018, sea surface salinity horizontal gradient is calculated to obtain the spatio-temporal distribution and the intensity characteristics of the salinity front in the Greenland Sea. Combined with the sea ice concentration data, the salinity front and sea ice relationship is also studied. There is a significant spatial relationship between the main position of the salinity front and the ice edge before the sea ice shrinks toward the continental shelf. In the climatological seasonal variation, the intensity of the salinity front beyond the continental shelf reaches its strongest (~0.22 psu/km) in July. The front area beyond the continental shelf reaches its peak value (~7.80×104 km2) in August. The interannual variation of sea ice extent averaged from July to August has a downward trend of 5.83×103 km2/year. Under the background of rapid change in sea ice, the intensity and area of the salinity front beyond the continental shelf are reducing at about 1.7×10-3 psu/km and 142 km2 /year, respectively.