Measuring Westward Recirculation in the Subpolar Gyre of the Southeastern Indian Ocean

澳大利亚和南极洲之间的南大洋环流的传统图像显示了南极绕极流（ACC），这是一条向东输送的主导带，而邻近的向西流动相对较弱。相对较弱的向西气流是 ACC 以北的反气旋或逆时针环流和 ACC 以南的气旋或顺时针环流的一部分。世界海洋环流水文计划最新成像表明，存在强烈的气旋环流，代表在南大洋偏远且未经勘探的地区新发现的总体环流特征。伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的海洋学家将在南极大陆坡上安装一个由 6 个系泊装置组成的海流计阵列和一个地下剖面浮标，以绘制这个新发现的气旋环流的环流图。此外，科学家将使用系泊剖面仪来监测与 ACC 相关的浓密水柱的流动，这些水柱沿着大陆坡下沉并加入经向翻转环流的下降分支。这项研究的结果将解决南大洋大气环流性质的不确定性，并增强我们对全球经向翻转系统的理解。该项目还将允许科学家将拟议的测量结果与高分辨率数值模型相结合，以提高耦合气候模型的性能，从而影响气候变化研究。该提案的资金将支持早期职业科学家的发展，以及英国博士生的潜在研究和培训。

The traditional image of Southern Ocean circulation between Australia and Antarctica illustrates the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), a dominant belt of eastward transport with a comparatively weak adjacent westward flow. The relatively weak westward flow is part of an anticyclonic, or counterclockwise, circulation north of the ACC and a cyclonic, or clockwise, circulation south of the ACC. Recent imaging developed from the World Ocean Circulation Hydrographic Program suggests that a strong cyclonic gyre exists, representing a newly discovered general circulation feature in a remote and unexplored region of the Southern Ocean. Oceanographers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute will install a 6-mooring array of current meters and a subsurface profiling float across the Antarctic continental slope to map the circulation of this newly discovered cyclonic gyre. In addition, scientists will use moored profilers to monitor the flow of the dense plume of water associated with the ACC that sinks along the continental slope and joins the descending limb of the Meridional Overturning Circulation. Findings from this study will resolve uncertainties about the nature of the general circulation in the Southern Ocean and enhance our understanding of the global meridional overturning system. This project will also impact climate change research by allowing scientists to combine the proposed measurements with high-resolution numerical modeling to improve the performance of coupled climate models. Funding from this proposal will support the development of an early-career scientist, as well as potential research and training for a UK-based PhD student.