Variability at Multiple Scales: Using an Array of Current - and Pressure - Sensor Equipped Inverted Echo Sounders to Measure the Ocean
Abstract
This is a proposal to acquire a suite of six inverted echo sounders (IESs) equipped with pressure and current sensors (CPIESs). CPIESs are moored instruments that measure the round-trip acoustic travel time between the seafloor and the sea surface, bottom pressure, and near-bottom horizontal currents hourly for up to 5 years. The CPIESs requested here are equipped with recently developed technology allowing for remote retrieval of data over the satellite Iridium network. Acquisition of these six CPIESs will enhance the pool of pressure-sensor equipped IESs (PIES) presently available at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and will foster partnerships between WHOI, other US groups, and international collaborators. Anticipated applications that would rely on the CPIESs requested here include proposals to investigate (1) low-frequency changes in Kuroshio strength, vertical structure and heat transport and the Kuroshio’s potential role in the marked increase in SST observed on the East China Sea shelf; (2) interactions of mesoscale eddies, internal waves and the Kuroshio east of Taiwan; and (3) interactions of large-scale flow with ocean ridges to generate westward-propagating baroclinic Rossby waves that emanate from ridges. With expansion of its in-house CPIESs capabilities, WHOI could build on the collaborative studies of the Kuroshio off Taiwan presently under the Origins of the Kuroshio and Mindanao Currents (OKMC) program, provide a freestanding array (or supplement an existing array) of instruments to contribute to the Flow Encountering Abrupt Topography (FLEAT) program, and expand on the present deployment of PIESs in a fjord to other icy ocean environments in the Arctic and Antarctic. It is anticipated that WHOI’s acquisition of CPIESs will enable continued development of the IES hardware, promote data analysis methods that combine CPIESs measurements with other in situ and remote sensing observations, and provide valuable opportunities for student engagement in the associated fieldwork and research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141512857
Entities
People
- Magdalena Andres
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution