Isopycnal RAFOS floats as roving hydrographers in the North Atlantic Current Region

Abstract

The properties measured by isopycnal floats can be compiled to provide hydrographic information about the sampled surfaces. The height and temperature of two specific volume anomaly surfaces reported by 84 RAFOS floats deployed in the North Atlantic Current (NAC' region are compared here with the climatological hydrographic database. The mean pathway of the NAC and other prominent features of the region are similar in float‐derived and climatological surfaces. The most striking difference between floats and climatology, an extended trough in the NAC path at 44°N in the float‐derived surface, reflects the sampling time scales. The baroclinic transport of the NAC estimated from RAFOS floats using the observed climatological relationship between the potential energy anomaly and the height of the specific volume anomaly surfaces was 42 Sv at 42°N and 24 Sv at 47°N, in reasonable agreement with climatological estimates.