Employing an acoustic current profiler in surveys of the Arctic front in the Greenland Sea

Three field surveys of the Arctic front were carried out under widely differing weather conditions with two research vessels using different navigation techniques. They show the practicabilities and limitations of acoustic profiling from a moving vessel for investigations of mesoscale current fields. Navigation fixes from different sources were used to determine the absolute currents. To remove systematic errors which are correlated with the ship´s velocity, a calibration was carried out revealing the influence of the different circumstances on the current measurements. A comparison of acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements with hydrographic data shows quite good results provided that the fundamental requirements are met