Summer transport anomalies through the Bering Strait from satellite altimetry

Abstract

TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter data are used to estimate anomalies of water transport in summer through Bering Strait from September 1992 until November 2001. The detided altimeter data show significant changes in sea level in this area associated with storm surges in adjacent shallow seas. These large signals tend to mask the loweramplitude seasonal and interannual sea level variability. However, it is possible to compute intra-seasonal and interannual changes in the northward geostropic flow through the strait from the cross-strait sea level gradients as measured by the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter.