Collaborative Research: Mixing in the Equatorial Thermocline (MIXET)

该项目是对赤道太平洋小垂直尺度速度结构（SVS）的综合观测和建模研究。 PI 拥有非常强大的资历和先前的成就，并设计了全面的现场实验和数值过程研究来实现他们的目标。这些观测将使用一系列系泊装置进行，这些系泊装置带有在系泊线上移动的剖面传感器，并在两次巡航期间部署仪器来测量海洋结构、洋流和微观结构湍流。数值模型将用于测试由风力、剪切不稳定性和内部重力波不稳定性引起的 SVS 的形成。 该项目在研究主题以及观测与建模之间的协同作用方面都具有很强的智力价值。智力价值：气候预测的稳健性取决于大气和海洋模型捕获问题的基本物理原理的有效性。海洋/大气耦合系统与海洋混合之间的密切关系意味着混合必须正确。例如，通过 NIO 传播将温跃层混合与风变率联系起来，提高了尺度相互作用的可能性，从而在 ENSO 和小尺度混合之间产生显着的反馈。这项工作有可能在控制赤道海洋中热量和动量混合的过程中产生变革性的结果，这与模拟和预测气候变化的尝试有关。 该提案包括对研究生的培训和指导。学生将获得将观察结果和模型联系起来的技能，这对于提高社会相关科学中使用的模型的可靠性至关重要。推广活动将包括：建立一个网站，宣传项目背后的科学原理和结果，将结果纳入 PI 提供的课程中，以及邀请当地高中教师参加一次或多次巡游。总体而言，该项目是一个大胆而全面的方法，用于研究人们知之甚少的海洋特征，对海洋学和气候具有广泛的影响。

The project is a combined observational and modeling study of small-vertical-scale velocity structures (SVSs) in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The PIs have very strong credentials, prior accomplishments , and have designed a comprehensive field experiment and numerical process studies to achieve their goals. The observations will be made using an array of moorings with profiling sensors that move on the mooring lines, and instrument deployments during two cruises to measure ocean structure, currents, and microstructure turbulence. Numerical modeling will be used to test the formation of SVSs by wind forcing, shear instability, and instabilities of internal gravity waves. The project has strong intellectual merit in both the topic of study and the synergy between observations and modeling.Intellectual Merit: The robustness of climate predictions depends on the effectiveness of atmosphere and ocean models to capture the essential physics of the problem. The strong relationship between the coupled ocean/atmosphere system and ocean mixing means that mixing has to be right. For instance, the linking of thermocline mixing to wind variability through NIO propagation raises the possibility of scale?interactions producing significant feedbacks between ENSO and small?scale mixing. The work has the potential to yield transformative results on the processes that control the mixing of heat and momentum in the equatorial oceans, which is pertinent to attempts to model and predict changes in climate. The proposal includes the training and mentorship of a graduate student. The student will gain skills in linking observations and models which are vitally important in improving the reliability of models used in societally relevant science. Outreach activities will include: a web site publicizing the science behind the project and results, the inclusion of results in courses given by the PIs, and an invitation to a local high school teacher to participate in one or more cruises. Overall this project is a bold and comprehensive approach to studying poorly understood oceanic features with wide ranging implications for oceanography and climate.