Construction of a New Fine- and Microstructure Profiler

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0118401Polzin/WHOIThe project supports the design, construction and testing of a new instrument to measure velocity on vertical scales that range from the microscale to the depth of the ocean. This instrument will have the unique capacity to obtain profiles of turbulent quantities to within a few meters of the bottom of the deep ocean and thus be able to sample both the upper part of the bottom boundary layer and the ocean interior. The design is based on an existing profiler that is nearing the end of its working life. However, design enhancements will permit closer approaches to the sea-floor, more accurate measurements and greater data storage. It is anticipated that the instrument will be used in future research into a variety of scientific questions about the ocean in which small-scale mixing and small-scale structure in the density field are important. These include questions about the maintenance and evolution of the large-scale stratification and circulation of the ocean as well as questions concerned with how tracers are mixed through the ocean.