Collaborative Research: Dynamics and Transport of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in Drake Passage

这项拟议的工作是对南极绕极流(ACC)通过德雷克海峡的水传输进行的一项多年研究。德雷克航道充当了一个瓶颈，不仅在地理上非常适合测量时变的交通，而且观测和计算机模型表明，控制交通的动态平衡在这里特别有效。一组海流计和压力记录反向回声探测仪(CPIES)将在4年内放置，以量化南极绕极洋流的传输和动态。每年将通过声学遥测收集数据，使仪器保持不受干扰，直到项目结束时恢复。据信，南大洋对气候变化特别敏感，对过去30年来风的增加做出了反应，而且在过去50年里变暖的程度远远超过了全球海洋。拟议的观测将解决ACC总输送的季节和年际变化及其垂直和横向结构。虽然没有专门提交给国际极地年方案征集，但拟议的项目有助于国际极地年了解极地地区环境变化的目标，并代表了国际极地年时间框架内的活动脉搏，将延伸国际极地年的遗产。这些数据和发现将报告给公众可查阅的档案馆，并提交科学文献发表。这是加州大学圣地亚哥分校和罗德岛大学之间的科学合作。

The proposed work is a multi-year study of the transport of water through Drake Passage by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Drake Passage acts as a chokepoint that is not only well suited geographically for measuring the time-varying transport, but observations and computer models suggest that dynamical balances which control the transport are particularly effective here. An array of Current Meters and Pressure-recording Inverted Echo Sounders (CPIES) will be set out for a period of 4 years to quantify the transport and dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Data will be collected annually by acoustic telemetry, leaving the instruments undisturbed until recovered at the end of the project. The Southern Ocean is believed to be especially sensitive to climate change, responding to winds that have increased over the past thirty years, and warming significantly more than the global ocean over the past fifty years. The proposed observations will resolve the seasonal and interannual variability of the total ACC transport, as well as its vertical and lateral structure. Although not submitted specifically to the International Polar Year (IPY) Program Solicitation, the proposed project contributes to the IPY goal of understanding environmental change in polar regions and represents a pulse of activity in the IPY time frame that will extend the legacy of the IPY. The data and findings will be reported to publicly accessible archives and submitted for publication in the scientific literature. It is a scientific collaboration between the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Rhode Island.