Intra-annual variations of intensity of subsurface currents and surface water temperature in the southwestern part of the Barents Sea inferred from drifter data

The paper presents a description of observations of near-surface currents and water temperature at the surface, made in the Barents Sea and in the south-western part of the Kara Sea with the help of satellite tracked drifting buoys drifters. This information should be taken into account when planning further drifter observations in the considered area. For the southwestern region of the Barents Sea the most covered by drifter observations the intra-annual variations of the averaged velocity module of currents at the depth of 15 m and the average temperature at the water surface are calculated. It is shown that the currents intensify in winter and weaken in summer with a minimum of the velocity module in August. Water temperature at the surface, on the contrary, has a maximum in August, and a minimum is reached in April.