SGER: Measurments of Mesoscale Surface Currents in Support of Space-Time Translocation Patterns of Reef Fish

在本研究中，我们建议利用高频遥感技术增加Cowen， Lwiza和Schultz （NSF OCE:-9521104）在海洋岛屿巴巴多斯西海岸正在进行的生物和物理采样阶段。这些测量将提供区域环流空间和时间变化演变的地图，以及当地流动与北巴西洋流反射产生的漩涡的相互作用。雷达将以高频模式操作，将提供1公里的空间分辨率，并将与舰载生物/物理采样方案相吻合。雷达流将提供该地区主要气流成分的重要信息，如潮汐、风力、平均环流和剩余环流。高频雷达测量将用于描述与北巴西海流反射产生的漩涡有关的水文特征的时空尺度。将遥感到的海流加入到船上的采样中，将提供对水面水流的直接测量。这些信息对于解释占据水柱上层的晚期幼虫的分布至关重要。将电流分解成不同的部分，将用于研究气流如何受到风等强迫因素的影响。这在岛的背风处特别有价值，因为风应力在空间和时间上都是不同的。将表面和地下水流测量与生物采样相结合，将使我们能够检查珊瑚鱼幼虫分布与岛屿水流模式之间的联系。具体来说，我们的研究可以评估近海中尺度事件对当地环境的影响以及幼虫滞留的命运。这些知识对于了解岛屿尾流环境中珊瑚礁鱼类幼虫的迁移模式至关重要。＊＊＊

*** Graber 9721630 In this study we propose to augment the on-going biological and physical sampling phase of Cowen, Lwiza and Schultz (NSF OCE:-9521104) on the west coast of the oceanic island Barbados with surface current measurements using HF remote sensing technology. The measurements would provide maps of the evolution of the spatial and temporal variability in the regional circulation and the interactions of local flow with eddies generated at the retroflection of the North Brazil Current. The radar would operate in HF mode which would provide a spatial resolution of 1 km and would coincide with the shipboard biological/physical sampling scheme. The radar currents would provide crucial information on the dominant flow components such as tides, wind-driven, mean and residual circulation in this region. The HF radar measurements would be used to characterize the time space scales of the hydrographic signatures associated with eddies generated by the retroflection of the North Brazil Current. The addition of the remotely sensed currents to the shipboard sampling will provide direct measurements of the surface flow. Such information is crucial to interpreting the distribution of late-stage larvae that occupy this upper layer of the water column. Decomposing the current into components would be used to examine how the flow is influenced by such forcing agents as the wind. This is particularly valuable in the lee of the island where the wind stress will vary both spatially and temporally. Combining the surface and subsurface current measurements with the biological sampling would allow us to examine the linkages between reef fish larval distributions and island flow patterns. Specifically our study could assess the impact of offshore mesoscale events disturbing the local now regime and the fate of larval retention. Such knowledge is essential to understand the translocation patterns of coral reef fish larvae in an island wake environment. ***