Finestructure Profiling Floats in Support of Summer 2005 EDDIES Tracer Release Experiment

四个新开发的测量细尺度温度、盐度和速度的剖面浮标(EM-APEX)将与2005年夏季在马尾藻海进行的示踪剂释放实验一起部署。浮子将在轮廓模式和等轴面跟随模式之间交替，以表征示踪剂附近的内波环境，同时最大限度地减少它们偏离补丁中心的漂移。示踪剂释放期间的剪切、应变和理查森数的统计数据将直接与从染料推断的昼夜扩散系数进行比较，从而能够测试和改进上层海洋中的内波混合参数。浮标将以径向排列分布在选定的涡流上，以表征涡旋结构及其随时间的演变。情报价值：虽然利用精细尺度切变和应变数据诊断昼夜混合的参数化在主温跃层中被证明是有用的，但在上层海洋、海底峡谷和大陆架上记录了一些失败的情况。为了测试这些参数在解决营养供应给真光层的问题上的效用，将需要同步的扩散率和精细尺度数据。EM-APEX浮子非常适合于与基于示踪剂的扩散系数估计进行比较，因为它能够在选定的深度随水流漂移，并在小到几米的尺度上测量温度、盐度和速度。广泛影响：这些测量将使NSF赞助的“涡动力学、混合、出口和物种组成”(涡流)实验得到更完整的现场描述，从而对正在进行的多学科实验的密度和速度场进行更完整的描述。此外，EM-APEX浮标有可能在未来的海洋学研究中成为一个非常有用的工具。在涡流等过程研究中展示其能力，将有助于向海洋学界推广这项新技术。

0516870Four newly--developed profiling floats (EM-APEX) measuring finescale temperature, salinity and velocity will be deployed in conjunction with a tracer release experiment in the Sargasso Sea in Summer 2005. The floats will alternate between profiling and isopycnal-following modes in order to characterize the internal wave environment in the vicinity of the tracer while minimizing their drift away from the center of the patch. Statistics of shear, strain and Richardson number over the duration of the tracer release will be directly compared to diapycnal diffusivities inferred from the dye, allowing testing and improvement of internal wave mixing parameterizations in the upper ocean. The floats will be deployed in a radial array across the chosen eddy so as to characterize the eddy structure and its evolution in time.Intellectual Merit: While parameterizations for the diagnosis of diapycnal mixing using finescale shear and strain data have proven useful in the main thermocline, a number of failures have been documented in the upper ocean, in submarine canyons, and on continental shelves. To test the utility of such parameterizations in unraveling the question of nutrient supply to the euphotic zone, simultaneous diffusivity and finescale data will be required. The EM-APEX float is well suited for comparison with tracer-based diffusivity estimates because of its ability to drift with the flow at a chosen depth and measure temperature, salinity and velocity at scales down to a few meters.Broader Impacts: These measurements will make a significant addition to the NSF-sponsored "EDdy Dynamics, mIxing, Export, and Species composition" (EDDIES) experiment by allowing a more complete in-situ description of the density and velocity fields in which the multi-disciplinary experiment is taking place. In addition, the EM-APEX float has the potential to be an immensely useful tool in future oceanographic studies. Demonstration of its capabilities in process studies such as EDDIES will help promote this new technology to the oceanographic community.