Tracer Studies of Mixing in Stratified Coastal Waters

Abstract

This grant was supported by the Physical Oceanography Program in the Processes and Prediction Division of the Ocean, Atmosphere and Space Department of ONR. The objectives were to inject dye plumes in the coastal ocean as part of the multi-PI Coastal Mixing and Optics Experiment (CMO) south of New England and observe the dye dispersal in a quantitative manner, and to measure micro-scale temperature fluctuations from a towed platform for comparison with microstructure expectations developed from the dye behavior. Three trips offshore on the R/V Oceanus were conducted in September 1995, September 1996 and August 1997. Five dye injection and mapping studies were completed and bounds for the cross-isopycnal turbulent diffusivity coefficient were obtained for each. A new towed microstructure system yielded useful data. The project involved a few technical accomplishments which enabled the scientific studies: Two dye-measurement tow vehicles were designed, built and used at sea; power distribution and data acquisition hardware and software systems within the tow vehicle were designed and built; shipboard computer systems were integrated to enable real-time dye mapping.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 25, 2000
Accession Number
ADA380586

Entities

People

  • James R. Ledwell
  • Timothy F Duda

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Continental Shelves
  • Data Acquisition
  • Diffusion
  • Diffusivity
  • Heat Flux
  • Information Operations
  • Measurement
  • Microstructure
  • Military Research
  • New England
  • Oceans
  • Physical Oceanography
  • Power Distribution
  • Tracer Studies
  • Turbulent Diffusion

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Oceanography.
  • Software Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Space