Long Term Observations of Upper Ocean Fluxes and Pycnocline Diffusivity in the Canada Basin Buoy Instrumentation
Abstract
PROJECT ABSTRACTApproved for Public ReleaseLast century, the ice pack of the Canada Basin had a large component of multi-year ice, a nd the areal extent of summer melting was relatively limited. Consequences of the limited open water were a weak internal wave field and correspondingly weak interior turbulence levels, conditions well observed by the 1997-1998 Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic (S HEBA) field program. During the last 15 years, summer melt-back in the Beaufort Sea has freshened the ocean surface layer, strengthe ning the seasonal pycnocline, which, in turn, tends to inhibit vertical turbulent transport between the surface layer and underlying layers. However large areas of open water allow energetic, near-inertial waves to develop enhancing energy input to the ocean, incr easing turbulent diffusivity of the pycnocline, and promoting vertical turbulent transport. It remains an open question as to how th ese two competing effects affect vertical transport and exchange in the Arctic ocean. The primary goal of this research is to make l ong-term (spanning multiple seasons and geographic areas) and concurrent measurements of near surface heat, salt and momentum fluxes , and pycnocline fluxes and internal wave and turbulence fields in the pycnocline of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas to map out the sp atial/temporal variability of these fields in relation to the ice cover conditions and proximity to bathymetric features.To meet the se goals Autonomous Ocean Flux Buoys are being modified to extend their measurements of heat, salt and momentum turbulent fluxes jus t below the ocean/ice interface to include observations of pycnocline diffusivity over a 6m layer well within the seasonal pycnoclin e, 50m below the ice floe supporting the buoy. These buoy systems will be deployed in the fall of 2020 and 2021 on ice floes in the Beaufort Sea next to WHOI Ice Tethered Profilers to identify and model processes controlling the widespread ice melt in the Canada B asin.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 22, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112910
Entities
People
- Timothy Stanton
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- San José State University
- United States Navy