Deliberate Tracer Injections of Sulfur Hexafluoride on the West Florida Shelf in Support of: An AUV-based Investigation of the Role of Nutrient Variability in the Predictive Modeling of Physical Processes in the Littoral Ocean

Abstract

Our long-term goal is to explore and test the potential effectiveness of low-level nutrient concentrations (nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia) as descriptors of geophysical fields and tracers of physical processes in oligotrophic coastal waters. To test the validity of this approach, studies are performed using the deliberately injected inert tracer sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and the advection and dispersion patterns of this tracer are compared with the patterns observed with the naturally occurring low-level nutrient concentrations. The SF6 work includes development of sampling methods to characterize the tracer field with high spatial and temporal resolution in near real-time.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 2002
Accession Number
ADA626863

Entities

People

  • Rik Wanninkhof

Organizations

  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Advection
  • Bottom Waters
  • Continental Shelves
  • Diffusion
  • Dispersions
  • Dynamics
  • Gases
  • Information Operations
  • Interdisciplinary Science
  • Predictive Modeling
  • Remote Sensing
  • Sampling
  • Surface Waters
  • Surveys
  • Tidal Currents
  • Tracer Studies
  • Water

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Surface Engineering/Surface Coating Technology.