Collaborative Research: Underwater Gliders for Monitoring Western Boundary Currents

0220769/0220930欧文斯/戴维斯伍兹霍尔海洋学研究所和斯克里普斯海洋学研究所的这个合作项目将证明使用自主水下滑翔机监测西部边界流的结构和强度的可行性。 在拟议工作的第一年，滑翔机的可靠性将在不太恶劣的环境中得到证明。 在随后的几年里，随着我们开始部署滑翔机在新英格兰大陆架和百慕大之间进行横断面调查，滑翔机任务的复杂性和持续时间将增加。 选择墨西哥湾流作为要调查的初始边界流是出于明显的后勤原因。滑翔机将提供表面和1000-1500米深度之间的速度、温度和盐度的横截面，这些横截面将实时提供。 将把这些数据合并起来，以提供墨西哥湾流的相对涡度和潜在涡度及其热通量和盐通量的大约每月估计数。这项研究的更广泛影响将是提供一个新的自主海洋学仪器平台和观测技术，首先将适用于所有其他西部边界流，包括那些被认为对预测气候变化至关重要的边界流。除此之外，这一仪器还可用于监测沿海地区的污染和生物资源，用于军事监视，并作为海洋学观测的一般工具。

0220769/0220930 Owens/DavisThis collaborative project between Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Scripps Institution of Oceanography will demonstrate the feasibility of using an autonomous underwater glider to monitor the structure and strength of western boundary currents. During the first year of the proposed work the reliability of the glider will be demonstrated in a less severe environment. During the ensuing years, the complexity and duration of the glider missions will be increased as we begin deploying them to make transects between the New England continental shelf and Bermuda. The choice of the Gulf Stream as the initial boundary current to be investigated was made for obvious logistical reasons. The gliders will provide cross-sections of velocity, temperature and salinity between the surface and 1000-1500 m depths which will be available in real-time. These data will be combined to provide approximately monthly estimates of the relative and potential vorticity of the Gulf Stream and its fluxes of heat and salt. The broader impact of this research will be in providing a new autonomous oceanographic instrument platform and observational techniques that will, first of all, be applicable to all other western boundary current including those believed to be crucial for predicting climate variability. Beyond that this instrument will find application in coastal zone monitoring for pollution and living resources, for military surveillance and as a general tool for oceanographic observation.