Collaborative Research: Pathways of Circumpolar Deep Water to West Antarctica from Profiling Float and Satellite Measurements

目前海洋学对南大洋绕极深水（CDW）相对温暖的水向南移动到南极大陆架寒冷的沃茨时的相互作用的兴趣是基于从全球海洋到大陆冰架底部的热传输的潜在重要性。这对于了解南极大陆的长期质量平衡、南极冰盖的稳定性以及在全球变暖的情况下海平面上升的速度是必要的。需要更好地观测CDW如何穿过南极绕极流（ACC）的机制。了解这种动力输送，相信发生的时变中尺度环流特征的涡动通量，将改善耦合海洋-大气气候模式。下一代海洋-冰-气候耦合模型的开发有助于我们了解大气热通量、冰川和海冰平衡以及南极生态系统变化的未来变化。我们理解的一个经常性障碍是缺乏这一遥远地区的数据。在该项目中，将在南极夏季期间向太平洋海域发射多个适合在海冰下运行的地下剖面EM-APEX浮标，最多可进行4次机会巡航。这些浮标将在极地锋面以南发射，并在CDW层之后测量2000米深度的切变、湍流、温度和盐度，执行长达2年的任务。

Current oceanographic interest in the interaction of relatively warm water of the Southern Ocean Circumpolar Deep Water ( CDW) as it moves southward to the frigid waters of the Antarctic continental shelves is based on the potential importance of heat transport from the global ocean to the base of continental ice shelves. This is needed to understand the longer term mass balance of the continent, the stability of the vast Antarctic ice sheets and the rate at which sea-level will rise in a warming world. Improved observational knowledge of the mechanisms of how warming CDW moves across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is needed. Understanding this dynamical transport, believed to take place by the eddy flux of time-varying mesoscale circulation features, will improve coupled ocean-atmospheric climate models. The development of the next generation of coupled ocean-ice- climate models help us understand future changes in atmospheric heat fluxes, glacial and sea-ice balance, and changes in the Antarctic ecosystems. A recurring obstacle to our understanding is the lack of data in this distant region. In this project, a number of subsurface profiling EM-APEX floats adapted to operate under sea ice will be launched on up to 4 cruises of opportunity to the Pacific sector during Austral summer. The floats will be launched south of the Polar Front and measure shear, turbulence, temperature, and salinity to 2000m depth for up to 2 year missions while following the CDW layer.