Collaborative Research: Southern Ocean Current Observations from the U. S. Antarctic Research Vessels

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This proposed work concerns the development and maintenance of a shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) program on board the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer and the research vessel Laurence M. Gould, operated by the United States Antarctic Program. The objective is to generate a quality-controlled data set on upper ocean current velocities in a sparsely sampled and remote region, yet one that plays an important role in the global ocean circulation. Further goals are to develop the underway data collection program so that it can be maintained with a minimum of personnel and resources, and that the observations become publicly available in a timely manner. Long-term science objectives are to measure the seasonal and interannual variability of upper ocean currents within the Drake Passage, to combine this information with similar temperature observations to study the variability in the heat exchange, and to characterize the velocity structure in the Southern Ocean on a variety of time and space scales.