ICES and EuroGOOS are running a joint project NORSEPP – the North Sea Pilot Project.

NORSEPP focuses on oceanography and fish stocks, and the aim is to promote the use of operational oceanography for biological applications such as fish stock assessments.

Download reports
The latest report from the 2nd quarter of 2007 is available here. Reports from the 1st quarter of 2007, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of 2006 and 1st, 2nd and 3rd and 4th quarters of 2005 are available here.

Summary of latest NORSEPP report (2Q 2007)

The mean modelled transport of water through the northern boundary to the North Sea for the second quarter of 2007 was close to the long-term average, while the circulation of the central and southern North Sea was lower (by 30–40%) than the long-term average. However, there were marked changes in the circulation pattern during the second quarter. In April, there was strong inflow to the North Sea between the Orkneys and Shetland, and a reversal of the typical circulation in the southern North Sea, to one where the water flowed clockwise around the Dogger Bank. This was associated with westwards outflow through the Channel. In May and June, the circulation changed back to the more typical pattern with counter-clockwise circulation around the Dogger Bank and eastwards inflow through the Channel. In June, the circulation of the northern North Sea was somewhat atypical, with moderately strong outflow between the Orkneys and Shetland.

The warm conditions in the North Sea that had lasted since the summer of 2006, continued in the second quarter of 2007.  The temperature anomalies in the first quarter were positive by 0–1 Co in the northern North Sea and by 2–4 Co in the southeastern part. These high positive anomalies persisted in April but were somewhat reduced to 1–2 Co in the southeastern area in June. Seasonal stratification started in April in the waters west of Denmark and by May the waters north of the Dogger Bank were markedly stratified.

The spring bloom in the Southern Bight and the Channel occurred somewhat later in 2007 than in the two preceding years, and vigorous blooms with high chlorophyll content developed in coastal waters in April and May. On the Norwegian Skagerrak coast the spring bloom occurred in late March, which is later than usual. Chlorophyll levels were low in May and June. Based on satellite-observations of chlorophyll, the spring bloom started first (March) in the stratified waters of Kattegat and Skagerrak and in the clear waters of the Dogger Bank, and latest (May–June) in the northwestern part of the North Sea and in the western Channel.

For more information please contact:

Hein Rune Skjoldal
Institute of Marine Research
Bergen, Norway

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