Collaborative Research: Sloccum Glider in Western Antarctic Peninsula Continental Shelf Waters Pilot Study

南极半岛（AP）具有以下特征：(1)近年来区域（冬季）变暖速度最快（是全球平均的5.35倍）；(2)其西缘常年海冰几乎全部消失；(3)87%的冰川退缩，导致全球海平面上升。理解这种变化的能力取决于研究人员更好地理解这种变化的潜在来源及其驱动机制的能力。尽管进行了密集的努力，西部AP （WAP）长期采样不足。因此，发展维持在原地持续存在的能力是一项高度科学优先事项。目前的提案通过两个目标来解决这一关键需求：(1)建立Slocum Webb海洋滑翔机的可行性，以实现实时高分辨率数据适应极地海洋学研究；(2)通过在包含14年船舶海洋快照的网格中测量海洋热收支，解决涉及区域气候变化的关键问题。这将包括在PAL-LTER南部夏季研究巡航期间发射滑翔机，在那里它将沿着LTER样本网格的整个海岸飞行，当船在夏季晚些时候到达那里时，它将在最南端恢复。在这段距离内，滑翔机将提供几乎连续的海洋特性（温度、盐度和压力）覆盖。知识价值。拟议的活动将涉及最先进的采样方法，这将彻底改变解决气候变化和其他需要采样密度的科学问题的能力，而这些采样密度是科考船无法实现的。具体来说，滑翔机的自适应采样能力将用于改变其航向，从而确定海洋热量（和营养物质）的源水进入大陆架区域的路线，而近乎连续的采样将提供标准船载站关闭热量预算的诊断。由于Rutgers SLOCUM Web滑翔机、滑翔机控制中心以及首架此类滑翔机的专家团队的参与，本研究的资源充足。更广泛的影响。拟议的活动将促进发现和理解WAP对气候变率的响应，研究与这种变率相关的复杂反馈机制，并更好地了解与气候变化相关的化学和物理过程。收集的数据将在万维网上提供，几乎是实时的，这对即将到来的国际极地年期间的科学家来说是一笔潜在的财富，可以用于课堂教学和一般推广。社会最终将受益于对世界其他地方气候变化如何影响南极独特生态系统、推动冰川融化（海平面上升）以及其他影响的进一步了解。

The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is characterized by (1) the most rapid recent regional (winter) warming (5.35 times global mean), (2) a loss of nearly all its perennial sea ice cover on its western margin, and (3) 87% of the glaciers in retreat, contributing to global sea level rise. An ability to understand this change depends upon researchers' ability to better understand the underlying sources of this change and their driving mechanisms. Despite intensive efforts, the western AP (WAP) is chronically under-sampled. Therefore developing a capability to maintain a sustained in situ presence is a high scientific priority. The current proposal addresses this critical need through 2 objectives: (1) establish the feasibility of a Slocum Webb ocean glider to enable real-time high resolution data-adaptive polar oceanographic research; (2) address a critical question involving the regional climate change by measuring the ocean heat budget within a grid containing 14 years of ship-based ocean snapshots. This will involve the launch of the glider during the PAL-LTER austral summer research cruise, where it will fly the full along-shore distance of the LTER sample grid to be recovered at the southern extreme when the ship arrives there later in the summer. The glider will provide nearly continuous ocean property (temperature, salinity and pressure) coverage over this distance.Intellectual merit. The proposed activity will involve state of the art sampling methodology that will revolutionize the ability to address climate change and other scientific issues requiring sampling densities that could not be achieved by research vessels. Specifically, the adaptive sampling capability of the glider will be used to alter its course allowing identification of routes by which the source waters of the ocean heat (and nutrients) enter the continental shelf region, while the near-continuous sampling will provide a diagnosis of how well standard shipborne stations close the heat budget. Resources are adequate for this study due to heavy leveraging by the availability of the Rutgers SLOCUM Web glider, glider control center and participation of the team of experts that flew the first such glider.Broader Impacts. The proposed activity will advance discovery and understanding of the WAP responses to climate variability, to study the intricate feedback mechanisms associated with this variability and to better understand the chemical and physical processes associated with climate change. The data will be made available across the World Wide Web as it is collected, almost in real time, a potential bonanza for scientists during the upcoming International Polar Year, for classroom instruction and general outreach. Society will ultimately benefit from the improved knowledge of how climate change elsewhere in the world is impacting the unique ecosystem of the Antarctic, and driving glacial melt (sea level rise), among its other influences.