The Haine group has been awarded a new research grant entitled “Measuring the East Greenland Coastal Current on the Northeast Greenland Shelf.” The project is supported by NSF and involves collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Skidaway Institute of Oceanography at the University of Georgia. Graduate student Joan Bonilla Pagan will work on the project as part of his PhD studies.

Project Overview: The East Greenland Coastal Current (EGCC) carries the freshest water mass from the Arctic Ocean into the subpolar North Atlantic. Direct observations of the EGCC along the Northeast Greenland Shelf (NEGS) are limited, and continuous records are lacking entirely. A unique opportunity has arisen to study this important current through a parallel project funded by the European Research Council that will measure the shelfbreak East Greenland Current at a latitude where the shelf is relatively straight and narrow. These properties make this an ideal location for in situ measurements of the coastal current. We propose to extend the shelfbreak array shoreward with an additional six moorings that cover the coastal current, so that the two currents are measured simultaneously while taking full advantage of the logistical synergies.