Autonomous Instrumentation in Support of Measurements of Ocean Fronts and Related Submesoscale Processes
Abstract
Ocean fronts and related submesoscale processes at the air-sea interface are of growing interest in oceanography and marine atmospheric science. They are regions where the oceanic andatmospheric boundary layers depart from the usual boundary-layer assumptions that vertical gradients in the relevant variables (e.g., currents, wind speed, temperature, gas concentration, biogeochemical variables) are much larger than the horizontal gradients, and so can involve much horizontal and vertical mixing and upwelling and downwelling. They are also regions where wavecurrent interaction can lead to significant wave breaking with concomitant increases in bubblemediated gas transfer and momentum flux from waves to currents. Thus, to measure theseprocesses in the Surface Ocean and Lower Atmosphere (SOLA) requires combined in situ measurements on both sides of the air-sea interface. In this proposal, we request the purchase of aSOLA-Instrumented SV3 Model Autonomous Wave Glider and a Reigl RiCopter, an autonomous airborne platform, instrumented with a scanning lidar, infrared imager, and stereo imager. When deployed in coordinated tracks, together, these platforms will significantly increase our ability to measure the generation and evolution of ocean fronts and other submesoscale processes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 10, 2018
- Source ID
- N000141812474
Entities
People
- Ken Melville
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, San Diego