Wind and Wave Forced Dissipation and Shear in the Upper Ocean

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Terray An observational study of the vertical structure of currents and turbulence in the ocean mixed layer will conducted at two off the New England Coast. Special emphasis will be put on the near surface region that is strongly influenced by surface waves through breaking and Langmuir circulation. This project relates to the more general question of the coupling between the atmosphere and the ocean by providing a link between surface fluxes and the mixed layer interior in a region that is poorly characterized. The two fields experiments will be conducted during winter when the water column is approximately unstratified. One deployment will be on the New England Shelf under conditions of well-developed waves, whereas the second deployment will be in a large bay and will focus on strongly forced, fetch-limited waves.