Full Water column measurements of turbulent momentum stresses from a 5-beam ADCP on the inner shelf

Abstract

The overall goals of the proposed work are to: understand the processes driving turbulent vertical/diapycnal mixing throughout the inner shelf, with an emphasis on the stratied water that exists between surface and bottom boundary layers, _ consider the implications of that turbulence for regional heat and momentum budgets, and _ develop physically accurate parameterizations of turbulent mixing and transports appropriate for the unique inner shelf environment. We propose to address these goals with a focused array of novel 5-beam ADCPs deployed in an intensive observational period on the inner shelf (Fig. 1). Below we describe the instrument and expected observations in more detail before moving onto the proposed analysis and budget. In the following subsections, we demonstrate the types of phenomena that we expect to observe from a recent test deployment in 16 meters of water near the Scripps Pier (Fig. 4). The data has just come in at the time of this writing, and analysis is at a very preliminary stage. However, many of the unique advantages of the new instrument shine through clearly.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Aug 12, 2016
Source ID
N000141512633

Entities

People

  • Jennifer MacKinnon

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy
  • University of California, San Diego

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Systems Analysis and Design