Articles | Volume 13, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-315-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-13-315-2017
Research article
 | 
21 Apr 2017
Research article |  | 21 Apr 2017

Large-scale forcing of the European Slope Current and associated inflows to the North Sea

Robert Marsh, Ivan D. Haigh, Stuart A. Cunningham, Mark E. Inall, Marie Porter, and Ben I. Moat

Data sets

SSALTO/DUACS User Handbook: MSLA and (M)ADT Near-Real Time and Delayed Time Products, SALP-MU-P-EA-21065-CLS, CLS-DPS-NT-06-034 (5rev0, 20/08/2016) AVISO+ http://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/fileadmin/documents/data/tools/hdbk_duacs.pdf

Kinematics of the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent: a Eulerian and Lagrangian approach from GCM results B. Blanke and S. Raynaud http://stockage.univ-brest.fr/~grima/Ariane/doc.html

The ERA-Interim reanalysis: Configuration and performance of the data assimilation system (http://www.ecmwf.int/en/research/climate-reanalysis/era-interim) D. P. Dee et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.828

Salinity Data GODAS (NCEP Global Ocean Data Assimilation System) https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.godas.html

EN4: quality controlled ocean temperature and salinity profiles and monthly objective analyses with uncertainty estimates (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/en4/) S. A. Good, M. J. Martin, and N. A. Rayner https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JC009067

ICES Report on Ocean Climate 2015, ICES Cooperative Research Report No. 331 K. M. H. Larsen, C. Gonzalez-Pola, P. Fratantoni, A. Beszczynska-Möller, and S. L. Hughes (Eds.) http://ocean.ices.dk/iroc/

Tide Gauge Data PSMSL (Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level) http://www.psmsl.org/data/obtaining/

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Short summary
To the west of Britain and Ireland, a strong ocean current follows the steep slope that separates the deep Atlantic and the continental shelf. This “Slope Current” exerts an Atlantic influence on the North Sea and its ecosystems. Using a combination of computer modelling and archived data, we find that the Slope Current weakened over 1988–2007, reducing Atlantic influence on the North Sea, due to a combination of warming of the subpolar North Atlantic and weakening winds to the west of Scotland.