Mapping the Antarctic Polar Front: Weekly realizations from 2002 to 2014

Abstract

We map the weekly position of the Antarctic Polar Front (PF) in the Southern Ocean over a 12-year period (2002–2014) using satellite sea surface temperature (SST) estimated from cloud-penetrating microwave radiometers. Our study advances previous efforts to map the PF using hydrographic and satellite data and provides a unique realization of the PF at weekly resolution across all longitudes (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.855640). The mean path of the PF is asymmetric; its latitudinal position spans from 44 to 64° S along its circumpolar path. SST at the PF ranges from 0.6 to 6.9 °C, reflecting the large spread in latitudinal position. The average intensity of the front is 1.7 °C per 100 km, with intensity ranging from 1.4 to 2.3 °C per 100 km. Front intensity is significantly correlated with the depth of bottom topography, suggesting that the front intensifies over shallow bathymetry. Realizations of the PF are consistent with the corresponding surface expressions of the PF estimated using expendable bathythermograph data in the Drake Passage and Australian and African sectors. The climatological mean position of the PF is similar, though not identical, to previously published estimates. As the PF is a key indicator of physical circulation, surface nutrient concentration, and biogeography in the Southern Ocean, future studies of physical and biogeochemical oceanography in this region will benefit from the provided data set.

Full text

Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 191–198, 2016
www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/8/191/2016/
doi:10.5194/essd-8-191-2016
© Author(s) 2016. CC Attribution 3.0 License.
Mapping the Antarctic Polar Front: weekly realizations
from 2002 to 2014
Natalie M. Freeman and Nicole S. Lovenduski
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of
Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Correspondence to: Natalie M. Freeman (natalie.freeman@colorado.edu)
Received: 23 December 2015 – Published in Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss.: 19 January 2016
Revised: 22 April 2016 – Accepted: 26 April 2016 – Published: 12 May 2016
Abstract. We map the weekly position of the Antarctic Polar Front (PF) in the Southern Ocean over a 12-year
period (2002–2014) using satellite sea surface temperature (SST) estimated from cloud-penetrating microwave
radiometers. Our study advances previous efforts to map the PF using hydrographic and satellite data and pro-
vides a unique realization of the PF at weekly resolution across all longitudes (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.855640).
The mean path of the PF is asymmetric; its latitudinal position spans from 44 to 64
◦
S along its circumpolar path.
SST at the PF ranges from 0.6 to 6.9
◦
C, reflecting the large spread in latitudinal position. The average inten-
sity of the front is 1.7
◦
C per 100 km, with intensity ranging from 1.4 to 2.3
◦
C per 100 km. Front intensity is
significantly correlated with the depth of bottom topography, suggesting that the front intensifies over shallow
bathymetry. Realizations of the PF are consistent with the corresponding surface expressions of the PF estimated
using expendable bathythermograph data in the Drake Passage and Australian and African sectors. The climato-
logical mean position of the PF is similar, though not identical, to previously published estimates. As the PF is
a key indicator of physical circulation, surface nutrient concentration, and biogeography in the Southern Ocean,
future studies of physical and biogeochemical oceanography in this region will benefit from the provided data
set.
1 Introduction
The large-scale circulation of the Southern Ocean (south
of 35
◦
S) is dominated by the strong, eastward flow of the
Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), connecting the ma-
jor ocean basins and allowing for the transport of heat, nu-
trients, carbon, and other key climate variables globally and
to the ocean interior (Rintoul et al., 2001; Sarmiento et al.,
2004). The ACC is composed of many deep-reaching hydro-
graphic fronts that divide the Southern Ocean up into phys-
ical and biogeochemical zones (see Deacon, 1982; Pollard
et al., 2002). The flow of the ACC is concentrated in several
jets within which the majority of the circumpolar transport
is carried (Rintoul et al., 2001). The terms “front” and “jet”
have often been used interchangeably throughout the ACC
literature but are distinct features: an ACC front is a water
mass boundary that is often associated with an ACC jet, a
strong geostrophic current.
While as many as 10 distinct fronts can be realized in the
Southern Ocean (Sokolov and Rintoul, 2007), the three ma-
jorly recognized ACC fronts are, from north to south, the
Subantarctic Front (SAF), Antarctic Polar Front (PF), and
southern ACC front (Orsi et al., 1995). At the PF, cold, fresh
Antarctic surface waters subduct beneath warmer, saltier sub-
Antarctic waters (Deacon, 1933, 1937). At the surface, the
PF is characterized by strong gradients in temperature, nu-
trients, and distinct biological communities (Deacon, 1933,
1937; Mackintosh, 1946; Deacon, 1982; Trull et al., 2001).
Accurately identifying the location of the PF has been an
important and active area of research in recent decades as
frontal position has implications for Southern Ocean eddy
mean flow, air-sea fluxes, biological productivity, biogeogra-
phy, and estimates of ACC transport (Hughes and Ash, 2001;
Pollard et al., 2002; Sarmiento et al., 2004; Ansorge et al.,
2014).
Published by Copernicus Publications.

192 N. M. Freeman and N. S. Lovenduski: Mapping the Antarctic Polar Front
There are multiple ways to identify the PF using tem-
perature and salinity data collected on hydrographic and
bathythermographic sections. A common method uses the
2
◦
C isotherm at ∼ 200m to mark the subsurface PF, as it is
a good approximation of the northern extent of cold, fresh
Antarctic Surface Water that generally occupies the upper
water column between the PF and the Antarctic continen-
tal shelf (Orsi et al., 1995; Belkin and Gordon, 1996). While
useful in capturingthe vertical structure ofthe PF on regional
scales and over short time periods, in situ data in the South-
ern Ocean is spatially and temporally sparse, makingdifficult
the study of spatiotemporal variability in the PF.
Satellites have allowed for a large-scale view of the histor-
ically under-sampled Southern Ocean. Altimeter images of
sea surface height (SSH) reflect features of the upper ocean
density field and gradients in SSH have been used to charac-
terize jet intensity and front location (Gille, 1994; Sokolov
and Rintoul, 2007; Sallée et al., 2008). Sokolov and Rintoul
(2002) demonstrate that regions of strong SSH gradients tend
to coincide with particular SSH contoursand that the circum-
polar path of a particular SSH contour marks the location of
an ACC front. However, SSH contouring methods to iden-
tify the PF should be approached with caution: Graham et al.
(2012) show that an SSH contour is not always associated
with an enhanced SSH gradient, challenging the accurate de-
tection of the time-varying front.
Given the signature strong sea surface temperature (SST)
gradient at the PF, satellite images of SST can also be used to
identify the PF. However, previous PF studies have used in-
frared retrievals of SST (Legeckis, 1977; Moore et al., 1997,
1999) which are greatly affected by water vapor and clouds,
a persistent feature of the Southern Ocean. SST estimates
from cloud-penetrating microwave radiometers circumvent
the above PF mapping limitations, first demonstrated by
Dong et al. (2006b).
Our study learns from and advances previous efforts to
map the PF. Herein, we use the continuous, all-weather mi-
crowave SST record at 25km resolution to estimate the
weekly location of the PF from 2002 to 2014. As such, our
method avoids water vapor and cloud contamination and pro-
vides circumpolar realizations of the PF at high spatial and
temporal resolution. Our realizations of the Polar Front are
made publicly available (Sect. 6) so as to benefit studies
of Southern Ocean physical and biogeochemical oceanogra-
phy (e.g., Munro et al., 2015a, b; Freeman and Lovenduski,
2015). In the following sections we detail our PF identifi-
cation method (Sect. 2), use available expendable bathyther-
mograph (XBT) data to test our method in select sectors of
the Southern Ocean (Sect. 3), and discuss the mean path of
the PF (Sect. 4). A companion paper investigates spatial and
temporal variations in the PF and its linkages with key modes
of climate variability (Freeman et al., 2016).
2 Methods
2.1 Sea surface temperature observations
In this study we utilize daily optimally interpolated mi-
crowave SST data, produced by Remote Sensing Systems,
on a 25km grid; daily SSTs were averaged over 7days
ending on and including the Saturday file date to create a
weekly product. This all-weather SST product is derived
from in situ estimates and all available microwave SST ra-
diometers operating on a given day between 2 June 2002
and 22 February 2014: the Advanced Microwave Scan-
ning Radiometers (AMSR-E and AMSR-2) and WindSat
Polarimetric Radiometer (see Reynolds and Smith, 1994).
Data processing involves many quality control measures, in-
cluding the removal of rain- or sea ice-contaminated SSTs
and consideration of diurnal warming and sensor error.
It is important to note that there are a few instances in
the data record when no radiometer was operational and
the SST retrieval from the previous day is used persis-
tently (outages range ∼ 1–7days). For further details on
data processing and specific dates of SST persistence, the
reader is encouraged to visit www.remss.com/measurements/
sea-surface-temperature/oisst-description.
2.2 Mapping the Polar Front
We build on the technique first presented by (Moore et al.,
1997) of using satellite SST gradient maxima to locate the
PF. In general, our PF mapping technique is based on locat-
ing the southern bound at which the SST gradient exceeds
1.5
◦
C over a 100km distance, as in (Dong et al., 2006b). At
longitudes where this criterion cannot be satisfied or when
large latitudinal distances exist between adjacent longitudes,
steps are taken to satisfy spatial and/or thermal continuity,
oftentimes as a relaxation of the above limit (see following
subsections). Dong et al. (2006b) use 2σ and the temporal
mean PF to identify such discontinuity. Here, we identify ad-
ditional physical characteristics of the PF and use this infor-
mation in a comprehensive mapping scheme. Our methodol-
ogy does not require knowledge of a temporal mean PF; all
information needed to map the PF is found locally. Our map-
ping scheme yields one continuous, unique PF realization for
a given period of time. In regions where the PF is known to
have multiple filaments (Sokolov and Rintoul, 2002), our al-
gorithm typically selects the southernmost.
2.2.1 PF identification procedure
South of 40
◦
S, we compute the absolute SST gradient
(
◦
Ckm
−1
) at each grid point,
|1T | =
q
(δT /δx)
2
+ (δT /δy)
2
,
where δT is the temperature difference (
◦
C) and δx and
δy are the kilometer distances between any two longitude
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 191–198, 2016 www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/8/191/2016/

N. M. Freeman and N. S. Lovenduski: Mapping the Antarctic Polar Front 193
or latitude points, respectively. We do not perform initial,
first-guess frontal identification (a) in regions where SST is
warmer than 10
◦
C, as these are waters characteristic of the
SAF (Dong et al., 2006b), (b) within small patches of high
SST gradients (closed contours less than 3 degrees of lati-
tude and longitude), so as to reduce noise (as in Dong et al.,
2006b), and (c) within 1
◦
of latitude of the Antarctic conti-
nent or sea ice, in case of melt-influenced SSTs (Smith and
Comiso, 2008).
2.2.2 Continuity tests
PF maps are checked for spatial and thermal continuity to de-
termine whether an adjustment in the PF is necessary. Start-
ing at the Greenwich Meridian and moving east, with the
general flow of the ACC, we calculate the absolute differ-
ences (d) in latitude (l;
◦
latitude), temperature (t ;
◦
C), and
monthly climatological temperature (tc;
◦
C) between the cur-
rent position and the point to the west (← ) and east (→ ),
twice the standard deviation of these differences (normalized
by N = 2), 2σ
l
(
◦
latitude) and 2σ
t
and 2σ
tc
(
◦
C) respectively,
and an additional difference (1) between 2σ and d (e.g.,
←
1
l
=|
←
d
l
− 2σ
l
|). Invoking tc is necessary when injections
of polar water from the south or subantarctic water from the
north affect frontal identification.
An adjustment in the PF position is required if 2σ
l
>
0.75
◦
latitude or (2σ
l
≤ 0.75
◦
latitude and (
←
1
l
> 0.25
◦
latitude
or
→
1
l
> 0.25
◦
latitude)) and any of the following are satisfied:













2σ
l
=
←
d
l
and (
←
d
t
≥ 2σ
t
or
←
d
tc
≥ 2σ
tc
)
←
d
l
< 2σ
l
<
→
d
l
,
→
1
l
> 1
2σ
l
<
←
d
l
and (2σ
t
<
←
d
t
or 2σ
tc
<
←
d
tc
) (1)
2σ
l
<
←
d
l
and
←
d
t
< 2σ
t
<
→
d
t
,
→
1
t
> 1
Figure 1 exemplifies spatial and thermal discontinuity ac-
cording to Eq. (1) and shows the subsequent adjustment
made in this particular case (adjustment procedure detailed
in Sect. 2.2.3). Here, black plus signs indicate the first-guess
PF position (i.e., the southern bound of the 1.5 temperature
gradient criterion after removing noise/patches), where the
current position being tested for continuity and its immedi-
ate neighbors to the west and east are indicated by black open
circles. As spatial and thermal continuity is violated in this
case (see difference and standard deviation information pro-
vided in text boxes), an adjustment in the PF position is made
(white plus sign).
2.2.3 Adjustments
Following spatial and thermal continuity testing, we identify
potential adjustment locations as those that satisfy
←
d
l
< 2σ
l
and
→
1
l
< 1 (see Fig. 1). Here, we locate the southernmost po-
Figure 1. Example of (a) spatial and (b) thermal discontinuity re-
sulting in an adjustment in the PF location according to Eq. (1) as
outlined in Sect. 2.2.2. d
l
, 2σ
l
in units of
◦
latitude and d
t
, 2σ
t
in
units of
◦
C.
sition of the0.015
◦
Ckm
−1
absolute SST gradient.If a gradi-
ent of that magnitude is not found, we successively relax the
gradient by 0.001
◦
Ckm
−1
to a lower limit of 0.011
◦
Ckm
−1
in order to find the front. In cases where gradients are rela-
tively weak (i.e., |1T | < 0.011
◦
Ckm
−1
), we use local gra-
dient maxima (> 0.008
◦
Ckm
−1
) to mark the position of the
front.
In some cases, spatial or thermal discontinuity is justified.
This generally occurs when two filaments are disconnected
(Fig. 2a; Sokolov and Rintoul, 2002), or when a branch of
the front is predominantly situated north-south (Fig. 2b).
2.2.4 Post-processing
In certain sectors of the Southern Ocean, the characteristics
of the PF are such that mapping requires executing the above
steps in the opposite direction, from east to west, in order
to adequately capture the front’s curled, folded, or multi-
filament structure (Sokolov and Rintoul, 2002) or when it
merges with or diverges from the SAF to the north (Read
and Pollard, 1993; Moore et al., 1997; Cunningham et al.,
2003). The following areas of the Southern Ocean are of-
ten mapped as outlined in the previous subsections but from
east to west: ∼ 20–32
◦
E, ∼ 50–62
◦
E near Crozet, ∼ 72–
80
◦
E near Kerguelen, ∼ 125–150
◦
E along the Southeast In-
dian Ridge, ∼ 170–190
◦
E in the New Zealand sector, ∼ 200–
215
◦
E along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, ∼ 240–300
◦
E in
the East Pacific, and ∼ 352–360
◦
E along the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge.
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194 N. M. Freeman and N. S. Lovenduski: Mapping the Antarctic Polar Front
Figure 2. Example cases when spatial and thermal discontinuity
is justified: frontal filaments (a) disconnected or (b) situated north-
south.
3 Validating the PF position
In order to verify our methods, we compare realizations of
PF location to those estimated from high-resolution XBT sur-
face (< 10m) temperature data. XBT data are available from
three Southern Ocean repeat lines: between Hobart, Australia
and the Dumont d’Urville Station, Antarctica (line IX28;
64 transects; hereafter referred to as the Australian sector),
across Drake Passage (line AX22; 73 transects), and another
between Cape Town, South Africa and Sanae IV Station,
Antarctica (line AX25; 25 transects; hereafter referred to as
the African sector). We note that XBT sampling in the Aus-
tralian and African sectors is biased to summer and spring
seasons, whereas XBT data are collected year-round in the
Drake Passage (see Sprintall, 2003).
Along each transect, we interpolate the XBT SSTs to
match the satellite grid resolution and compute meridional
surface temperature gradients (δT /δy). We seek to find the
in situ PF within 1 standard deviation of the weekly satel-
lite PF location. In the African and Australian sectors, we
identify the in situ PF as the southernmost latitude where
δT /δy ≥ 0.015
◦
Ckm
−1
. Given the strength of the SST gra-
dient in Drake Passage, we adjust our definition to identify
the southernmost latitude of the strongest δT /δy exceeding
0.015
◦
Ckm
−1
.
We quantify the error associated with our PF mapping
scheme in these three regions by calculating the root mean
square error (RMSE), a measure of the average magnitude of
the latitudinal differences between the PF inferred from XBT
Table 1. Estimated PF location RMS error (degrees of latitude) and
sample size (n), by sector.
RMSE n
Australian sector 1.1640 59
Drake Passage 0.5373 71
African sector 0.7971 24
data (PF
X
) and that from weekly microwave data (PF
M
), as
RMSE =
v
u
u
u
t
n
P
i=1
(PF
X,i
− PF
M,i
)
2
n
,
where n corresponds to the number of transects in a given
sector. Table 1 lists RMSE and sample size by sector. Tran-
sects where a meridional temperature gradient satisfying our
0.015
◦
Ckm
−1
criterion could not be identified were ex-
cluded from these calculations (eight transects in total).
Differences between in situ and satellite PF locations are
likely attributed to one or more of the following: (1) interpo-
lating XBT SSTs on to the satellite grid, (2) differences in
the representative temperature measured by the two sources
(“bulk” versus “subskin”; see Dong et al., 2006a), (3) errors
in the original temperature data (e.g., manufacturer, accu-
racy, precision, etc.), (4) the regional complexity of the front
(i.e., magnitude of mesoscale variability, typical number of
branches, etc.), or (5) comparing a daily in situ PF with the
corresponding weekly satellite PF.
The PF within the Australian and African sectors (RMSE
1.1640 and 0.7971
◦
latitude, respectively; 2σ = 2.33 and
2.09
◦
latitude, respectively), is known for its multi-filament
structure (Belkin and Gordon, 1996; Moore et al., 1999;
Sokolov and Rintoul, 2002, 2009b), making difficult the
comparison between in situ and satellite-based definitions.
For example, Fig. 3a shows more than one potential frontal
location along a November 2003 transect south of Australia;
the in situ PF is identified as the more northerly filament
while our weekly PF realization marks the more southerly
filament. Figure 3c shows a summertime African transect
where the in situ PF is identified as a more southerly fil-
ament and our weekly realization represents the northern,
more spatially continuous filament. In Drake Passage (RMSE
0.5373
◦
latitude; 2σ = 1.47
◦
latitude), the PF is largely con-
strained by bathymetry (Moore et al., 1997) and character-
ized by an intense temperature gradient. Figure 3b shows a
summertime Drake Passage transect where the in situ and
satellite PF are identified one grid box apart (0.25
◦
latitude).
Such consistent identifications are reflected in the RMSE
here, where on average, our mapping technique will provide
PF positions within ∼ 0.5
◦
latitude of an in situ position in a
given week.
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 191–198, 2016 www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/8/191/2016/

N. M. Freeman and N. S. Lovenduski: Mapping the Antarctic Polar Front 195
Figure 3. PF location identified from surface XBT data (timestamp indicated) overlain on the corresponding weekly satellite-estimated
1SST and PF realization in the (a) Australian, (b) Drake Passage, and (c) African sectors.
Figure 4. Southern Ocean (a) mean SST and (b) absolute SST gradient with climatological PF overlain (June 2002–February 2014).
4 Results and discussion
We investigate the climatological position of the front by
averaging weekly realizations over 2002–2014 (Figs. 4, 5).
The climatological path of the PF is zonally asymmetric,
traversing nearly 20
◦
of latitude from its northernmost posi-
tion in the southwest Indian Ocean (43.89
◦
S) to its southern-
most position in the southeast Pacific (64.08
◦
S; Figs. 4; 5a).
It follows that the climatological temperature along the
path of the PF ranges from 0.6 to 6.9
◦
C (Figs. 4a; 5b).
The climatological intensity of the PF (defined as the ab-
solute SST gradient at the front) averaged over all lon-
gitudes is 0.0173
◦
Ckm
−1
. Climatological intensity ranges
from 0.0139 to 0.0225
◦
Ckm
−1
(Figs. 4b; 5c), possibly re-
flecting changes in ACC transport along the front (Dong
et al., 2006b).
Figure 5 suggests that the mean position, temperature, and
intensity of the PF are closely linked to the depth of the un-
derlying topography (r = 0.43, r = 0.29, and r = 0.27, re-
spectively), in agreement with previous PF studies (Gille,
1994; Moore et al., 1999; Sokolov and Rintoul, 2002; Dong
et al., 2006b; Sallée et al., 2008). Indeed, the front tends to be
southerly, cold, and weak over the deep ocean, and northerly,
warm, and intense over shallow bathymetry. In the southwest
Indian sector, the PF is in its northernmost position and char-
acterized by warm SSTs (Figs. 4, 5a, b). Generally, the PF
has a more southerly position in the deep, east Pacific sec-
tor, characterized by cooler SSTs and relatively weak SST
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196 N. M. Freeman and N. S. Lovenduski: Mapping the Antarctic Polar Front
Figure 5. Climatological (a) PF location and (b) SST, (c) abso-
lute SST gradient, and (d) bottom depth at the PF (June 2002–
February 2014). Statistically significant (> 95%) correlation coef-
ficients with bottom depth are indicated in the top right corner of
(a)–(c).
gradients (Fig. 4; Fig. 5; Moore et al., 1999; Dong et al.,
2006b). Figure 5c demonstrates that the PF intensifies at ma-
jor topographic features, which are associated with strong,
large-scale potential vorticity gradients that act to constrain
the flow (Gordon et al., 1978; Sallée et al., 2008), including
the Kerguelen Plateau (∼ 80
◦
E), across the Southeast Indian
Ridge (∼ 150
◦
E), Drake Passage (∼ 60
◦
W), and the Pacific-
Antarctic Ridge (∼ 140
◦
W).
We compare the climatological position of our PF with
that estimated by the studies of Orsi et al. (1995), Belkin
and Gordon (1996), Moore et al. (1999), and Dong et al.
(2006b) in Fig. 6, where the paths of the front are overlain
on a map of bottom topography (Smith and Sandwell, 1994).
The topographic influence on the position of the front is ap-
parent: regions of strong topographic steering coincide with
regions where all five climatological paths are in good agree-
ment (e.g., along the Southeast Indian and Pacific-Antarctic
Ridges in the New Zealand and Ross Sea sectors, through
Drake Passage south of the Falkland Islands, and the eastern
Figure 6. The climatological position of the PF in this and pre-
vious studies overlain on bottom topography obtained from the
National Geophysical Data Center (www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/dat/
misc/predicted_seafloor_topography/TOPO/), where light (dark)
shading indicates shallow (deep) bathymetry.
flank of Kerguelen Plateau) and these paths diverge from one
another in deep ocean regions with weak to no topographic
steering (e.g., the southeast Indian and Pacific basins).
Given the diversity in the methods and data used to iden-
tify the fronts shown in Fig. 6, we do not expect the individ-
ual climatological paths to agree everywhere. For example,
the Orsi et al. (1995) and Belkin and Gordon (1996) studies
use hydrographic data to identify the front’s subsurface ex-
pression, the northern extent of the 2
◦
C isotherm at ∼ 200m,
while Moore et al. (1999) (Dong et al., 2006b) identify the
front as an SST gradient using infrared (microwave) satellite
retrievals from 1987 to 1993 (2003 to 2005). Our climato-
logical PF diverges most from that of Moore et al. (1999)
in areas where persistent cloud cover contaminates the in-
frared SST retrieval (e.g., ∼ 50–70
◦
E and ∼ 110–140
◦
E).
Since our study builds on the PF identification method pre-
sented in Dong et al. (2006b), it follows that the climatolog-
ical position of our PF most closely matches that of Dong
et al. (2006b).
Our climatological PF merges with the SAF north of
the Crozet Archipelago (∼ 50
◦
E), similar to (Dong et al.,
2006b). It passes to the north of the Kerguelen Plateau (∼
70
◦
E), as in Orsi et al. (1995), Belkin and Gordon (1996),
Dong et al. (2006b), and Sokolov and Rintoul (2009a). South
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 191–198, 2016 www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/8/191/2016/

N. M. Freeman and N. S. Lovenduski: Mapping the Antarctic Polar Front 197
of Crozet and Kerguelen, SST gradients are generally too
weak to discern frontal filaments.
In the southeast Atlantic sector (330–350
◦
E), our climato-
logical PF extends further north than previous climatologies.
This sector is characterized by many disconnected, smaller-
scale frontal filaments south of the SAF. The continuity con-
straint in our method precludes identification of small-scale
features as part of the PF, so here the PF follows the strongest
and most coherent filament.
5 Conclusions
In summary, this study maps the Antarctic Polar Front from
2002 to 2014 at weekly resolution and provides the first tem-
porally varying PF data set derived from SST available to the
scientific community. We outline a verified methodology to
locate the PF throughout the Southern Ocean using the high-
resolution, all-weather microwave SST data record. Further,
we describe the climatological position, surface temperature,
and intensity of the PF and compare our climatological PF
to previous studies. As evidence for a variable and changing
Southern Ocean grows (Gille, 2002; Böning et al., 2008; Cai
et al., 2010; Munro et al., 2015b; Landschützer et al., 2015),
determining the response of the PF to such changes is ever
more crucial. For an investigation of intra-annual to interan-
nual variability of the PF and associated drivers/mechanisms
utilizing this high-resolution PF data set, the interested reader
is encouraged to see our companion paper (Freeman et al.,
2016).
Data availability
Weekly PF locations can be found at
doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.855640 in netCDF (network
Common Data Form) format and viewed as an animation.
Microwave OI SST data are produced by Remote Sensing
Systems and sponsored by National Oceanographic Partner-
ship Program (NOPP) and the NASA Earth Science Physical
Oceanography Program. Data are available at www.remss.
com. Drake Passage and Australian sector XBT data were
made available by the Scripps High Resolution XBT pro-
gram (www.hrx.ucsd.edu). XBT data from the African sec-
tor were made freely available by the Atlantic Oceanographic
and Meteorological Laboratory and are funded by the NOAA
Office of Climate Observations (http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/
phod/hdenxbt/ax_home.php?ax=25). The Orsi et al. (1995)
climatological PF position was obtained from the Australian
Antarctic Data Center (Orsi and Harris, 2001). Bottom to-
pography data were obtained at www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/
dat/misc/predicted_seafloor_topography/TOPO/ (Smith and
Sandwell, 1994).
Acknowledgements. We thank S. Dong for providing her mean
PF path. We are grateful for support from NSF (DGE-1144083;
OCE-1155240; OCE-1258995) and NOAA (NA12OAR4310058).
Edited by: G. M. R. Manzella
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