Investigating Near-Surface Ocean Heating and Mixing Processes in the Presence of Surface Material

太阳辐射是上层海洋最大的加热形式，由于其渗透到海洋表面以下，对海气通量平衡是独特的。据推测，在存在藻华和表面浮油的情况下，近地表加热会增强，但目前的模型尚未考虑到这一点。虽然海面浮油在世界海洋中很常见，但由于缺乏适当的观测工具，我们对这些浮油如何影响海洋加热的了解有限。通过使用舰载高耐力无人驾驶飞行器（UASs），调查人员瞄准了大规模的浮油，每天多次覆盖数十平方公里。该项目是利用无人机技术进行科学研究的一个巨大进步。这项调查将为由于表面浮油的存在而导致的上层海洋的热量分布提供新的见解。该项目将改进海洋表面加热日循环、全球生物地球化学循环和海洋表面温度的模型。这些结果在南太平洋、海洋大陆和印度洋的区域模拟社区中有很大的需求。该项目将促进下一代海洋学科学家的发展。研究人员将为他们在哥伦比亚大学的现有课程制作教材。他们还将与大纽约地区的K-12教师密切合作，并通过Earth2Class讲习班与大量来自代表性不足群体的学生密切合作。该研究项目将分析2019年11月至12月在斐济附近西南太平洋的R/V Falkor上使用一系列新工具进行的测量。UASs配备了高光谱可见光和宽带热红外相机，用于研究海面生物油的反照率和海面皮肤温度。UASs和船载仪器测量了海气热/辐射通量和海温；一艘自主双体船对海面微层表面活性剂和海面微层藻类种群进行了取样；漂流者测量了上层海洋温度、盐度、洋流和湍流的近地表响应；光谱辐射剖面提供了深度净辐射通量的估计；船载红外成像测量了对上层海洋加热重要的海洋表面SST的响应。这些结果将进一步加深我们对蓝藻华和表面浮油在物理海气相互作用中的作用的理解。这些分析将扩大我们对上层海洋混合层对藻华响应的认识，并提供近表面海洋热收支的新观测结果。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Solar radiation is the largest form of heating of the upper ocean and is unique to the air-sea flux balance due to its penetration beneath the ocean surface. It has been speculated that near-surface heating is enhanced in the presence of algal blooms and surface slicks but this has not been accounted for in current models. Although surface slicks are common in the world oceans, our knowledge of how these slicks impact ocean heating has been limited due to the lack of appropriate observational tools. By using ship-deployed high-endurance Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles (UASs), the investigators targeted large-scale slicks and covered 10s of km2 several times a day. The project is a quantum advance in utilizing UAS technology for science. This investigation will provide new insights into the distribution of heat in the upper ocean due to the presence of surface slicks. This project will improve models of the daily cycles of surface ocean heating, global biogeochemical cycles, and sea surface temperature. These results are in great demand within the regional modeling community of the South Pacific, Maritime Continent, and Indian Ocean. The project will foster the development of the next generation of scientists in Oceanography. The inverstigators will create teaching materials for their existing course at Columbia University. They will also work closely with K-12 teachers in the greater New York City area and with large numbers of students from underrepresented groups through the Earth2Class Workshops.This research project will analyze measurements made onboard the R/V Falkor in November-December 2019 in the Southwest Pacific near Fiji from a combination of novel tools. UASs were equipped with hyperspectral visible, and broadband thermal infrared cameras to study the albedo of sea surface biogenic slicks as well as the sea-surface skin temperature (SST). UASs and ship-based instrumentation measured air-sea heat/radiative fluxes and SST; an autonomous catamaran sampled sea-surface microlayer surfactants and the surface microlayer algae populations; drifters measured the near-surface response of the upper ocean temperature, salinity, ocean currents, and turbulence; spectro-radiometric profiles provided estimates of net radiant flux at depth; and shipboard infrared imaging measured the response of ocean surface SST important to upper-ocean heating. The results will further our understanding of the role cyanobacteria blooms and surface slicks play in physical air-sea interaction. The analyses will expand our knowledge of the upper-ocean mixed layer response to algal blooms and provide novel observations of near-surface ocean heat budget.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.