Red Sea Outflow Experiment: Gulf of Aden Data Analysis

知识价值：2001年，物理海洋学家进行了红海外流实验(RedSox)，这是对亚丁湾下降的红海外流羽流和平衡的红海外流水(RSOW)的水文和环流进行的第一次综合实地研究。在外流运输最多(冬季)和最少(夏季)的季节进行了两次研究巡航。这些巡航产生的并与拟议的研究有关的是在两次巡航中在曼德布海峡和亚丁湾入海口之间收集的200多条水文和直接速度剖面，以及在RSOW盐度最大深度释放的44个声学跟踪的地下RAFOS浮标的轨迹。还收集了遥感观测数据，以补充和扩大现场观测。到目前为止，墨西哥湾研究的主要结果是，巨大的、高能的、深入的中尺度涡流，而不是最初假设的边界潜流，决定了RSOW在亚丁湾的传播路径和速度。虽然在RedSox之前，这些涡流已经在卫星测高中被探测到，但还没有观测到它们的地下结构。既有气旋也有反气旋，直径100~250公里，风速10~30厘米/S。这项研究的总体目标是超越这些亮点，对庞大的多维RedSox数据集进行深入分析。这将导致第一次描述管理通过亚丁湾出口到西印度洋的RSOW的物理机制。最后的分析将集中于以下三个目标：1.描述在亚丁湾观测到的涡旋的运动学和动力学，它们的产生机制，以及它们在调节RSOW扩散和混合中的作用。2.记录RSOW在穿越亚丁湾时由于等周期混合过程和昼夜混合过程的水文演变。3.确定亚丁湾环流的拉格朗日统计特征，并与地中海流出区进行比较。更广泛的影响：拟议的分析从全球角度来看是相关的，因为它涉及边缘海域由海-气交换形成的水团如何被输送到公海的一般问题。这两个专业人士经常在博物馆和学校等地向公众介绍海洋学，为提高社会的科学素养作出贡献。

Intellectual Merit: In 2001, physical oceanographers conducted the Red Sea Outflow Experiment (REDSOX), the first comprehensive field study of the hydrography and circulation of both the descending Red Sea outflow plume and the equilibrated Red Sea Outflow Water (RSOW) in the Gulf of Aden. Two research cruises were carried out during the seasons of maximum (winter) and minimum (summer) outflow transport. Resulting from these cruises, and relevant to the proposed research, are over 200 hydrographic and direct velocity profiles collected between the Strait of Bab el Mandeb and the mouth of the Gulf of Aden on both cruises, and trajectories from 44 acoustically-tracked subsurface RAFOS floats released at the depth of the RSOW salinity maximum. Remote sensing observations were also collected to complement and extend the in situ observations. The major result to date from the gulf study is that large, energetic, deep-reaching mesoscale eddies, and not, as originally hypothesized, boundary undercurrents, dictate the spreading pathways and rates of RSOW through the Gulf of Aden. While these eddies had been detected in satellite altimetry prior to REDSOX, there had been no observations of their subsurface structure. Both cyclones and anticyclones were observed, with diameters of 100-250 km and speeds of 10-30 cm/s at the RSOW level. The overall goal in this study is to go beyond these highlights and conduct an in-depth analysis of the large and multi-dimensional REDSOX data set. This will result in the first description of the physical mechanisms governing the export of RSOW through the Gulf of Aden and into the western Indian Ocean. The final analysis will focus on the following three objectives: 1. To describe the kinematics and dynamics of eddies observed in the Gulf of Aden, their generation mechanisms, and their role in modulating the dispersal and mixing of RSOW 2. To document the hydrographic evolution of RSOW as it transits the Gulf of Aden, due to both isopycnal and diapycnal mixing processes. 3. To determine the Lagrangian statistical properties of the circulation in the Gulf of Aden, and compare with the Mediterranean outflow region. Broader Impact: The proposed analysis is relevant from a global viewpoint in that it addresses the general question of how water masses formed by air-sea exchange in marginal seas are transported into the open ocean. Both PIs make frequent presentations on oceanography for public audiences at, for example, museums and schools, contributing to the scientific literacy of society.