A Novel Temperature and Salinity Dataset for Northern High LAtitude Seas (ATLAS)

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The Labrador and Nordic Seas are key elements in the global climate system. They are the main sites for dense water formation at the northern limit of the global ocean circulation and are experiencing major changes (warming sea temperatures, falling ice cover and strong increases in winter sea-air heat loss) associated with global warming. However, they are amongst the most poorly observed areas of the global ocean due to the difficulty in obtaining observations from ships under the severe sub-Arctic conditions typical of this region. We will develop a novel high latitude ocean temperature (T) and salinity (S) dataset using observations from profiling Argo floats, seal-borne sensors and research ships in the period 2001-2010. The new dataset will be of fundamental importance for determining recent changes in the state of the Labrador and Nordic Seas. It will be made available as a community resource for future efforts to determine the impacts of climate change on this key region of the global ocean circulation and will be heavily used by the PI and Co-I in their subsequent research.