Southern Ocean Freshwater Flux Field

Southern Ocean Freshwater Flux Field.

(1) British Antarctic Survey; (2) University of Cambridge Department of Physics

The dataset comprises a derived freshwater flux field for the Southern Ocean. This flux field is the rate of freshwater (m-3s-1) entering each point of a grid covering the Southern Ocean, divided by the surface area (m-2) represented by each grid point, which gives a flux (m s-1) at each grid point. It was produced using up-to-date freshwater data from ice shelves, icebergs, and rivers over the period 2010-2015 and integrated over a surface encompassing Antarctica and surrounding waters. These data are intended for use in the Southern Ocean State Estimate (SOSE) iteration of the MIT General Circulation Model (MITgcm), but can be adapted for use on a different grid or model. The flux data are in units of m yr-1, on a 2160x320 grid. MATLAB scripts and tables of runoff data are available and show how the field was produced, how the data can be used and how different data can produce the field for a different grid. The field was created to update the accuracy of the freshwater input to a model based on SOSE, and to stabilise it with respect to the formation of open-ocean polynyas. This field was produced by Mark Hammond under the supervision of Dr Dan Jones at the British Antarctic Survey.