The Oleander Project: High-resolution observations of the dynamic ocean between New Jersey and Bermuda

近三十年来，一艘名为CV Oleander的商业集装箱船一直在新泽西州伊丽莎白港和百慕大汉密尔顿之间的每周往返航行中担任志愿海洋观测船。该船的航线穿越中大西洋湾（MAB）大陆架和斜坡以及墨西哥湾流和马尾藻海--这是一系列不同的区域，汇集了副极地和热带沃茨，并对北大西洋西部的海洋环流、热量输送、生物生产力和海洋碳循环产生了重大影响。从船上进行的测量包括声学多普勒海流剖面仪（ADCP）的流速和一次性深海温度计（XBT）和温盐仪的温度。然而，最近的船只更换需要改变海洋学仪器的安装，从而减少了从船上ADCP返回的数据。该项目的重点是解决仪器性能问题，并使Oleander恢复海洋学数据的例行返回。 二氧化碳分压（pCO 2）的观测也与温盐计在线进行，并且有一个连续的浮游生物记录器用于对浮游生物进行采样。该项目将使最新的夹竹桃科学传感器上线，并继续和加强原位测量这艘商业船只的定期服务使其成为可能。沿着一条路线。这些测量对于研究北大西洋西部的海洋环流、热输送、生物生产力和海洋碳循环至关重要。墨西哥湾流系统的年际到十年变化具有区域和流域范围的影响。墨西哥湾流弯曲影响与周围沃茨的交换过程。此外，气候模型指出，大西洋经向翻转环流（AMOC）的快速变化，其温暖的肢体内进行的墨西哥湾流，并表明AMOC的变化也驱动了在大陆架和海岸观察到的变化。为了了解潜在的过程，并验证或反驳基于模型的假设，有必要在现场几十年的墨西哥湾流和周围的沃茨的记录。夹竹桃线覆盖大陆架、陆坡、墨西哥湾流和马尾藻沃茨，非常适合直接测量与AMOC相关的通量，并与其他纬度的AMOC估计值进行比较，以检查纬向一致性。对美国东北部大陆架和斜坡上长期变化和事件尺度过程的驱动因素的理解增加，对人口稠密的沿海大陆架生态系统的物候和健康具有重要的商业意义。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

For nearly three decades, a commercial container vessel, CV Oleander, has served as a volunteer oceanographic observing ship during weekly round-trip voyages between Port Elizabeth, NJ and Hamilton, Bermuda. The vessel’s route crosses the Mid Atlantic Bight (MAB) shelf and slope as well as the Gulf Stream and Sargasso Sea – a diverse set of regions that bring together subpolar and tropical waters and critically influence ocean circulation, heat transport, biological productivity and the marine carbon cycle in the western North Atlantic. Measurements made from the ship include current velocity from Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) and temperature from expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) and thermosalinograph. The most recent vessel replacement, however, necessitated changes in the installations of the oceanographic instrumentation and subsequent reduction in data return from the ship-mounted ADCPs. This project is focused on resolving the instrument performance issues and returning the Oleander to routine return of oceanographic data. Observations of partial pressure of carbon-dioxide (pCO2) are also made in-line with the theromosalinograph and there is a continuous plankton recorder for sampling plankton.This project will bring the newest Oleander’s scientific sensors online, and to continue and enhance the in situ measurements made possible by this commercial vessel’s regular service along a single route. These measurements are essential for studies of ocean circulation, heat transport, biological productivity and the marine carbon cycle in the western North Atlantic. Interannual to decadal variability in the Gulf Stream system has both regional and basin-wide implications. Gulf Stream meandering impacts exchange processes with surrounding waters. In addition, climate models point to rapid change in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), whose warm limb is carried within the Gulf Stream, and suggest that AMOC variability also drives changes observed on the shelf and coast. To understand the underlying processes and to validate or refute the model-based hypotheses, there is a need for in situ multidecade records of the Gulf Stream and surrounding waters. The Oleander Line with its coverage of shelf, slope, Gulf Stream and Sargasso waters is well-suited to directly measure fluxes associated with the AMOC and to compare with AMOC estimates from other latitudes to examine meridional coherence. Increased understanding of the drivers of both the long-term changes and the event-scale processes on the shelf and slope off the Northeast US has implications for the phenology and health of the shelf ecosystems along the highly populated coast with commercially important fisheries.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.