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

近三十年来，商业集装箱船CV Oleander在新泽西州伊丽莎白港和百慕大哈密尔顿之间每周往返航行期间一直充当志愿海洋观测船。这艘船的航线横跨中大西洋海湾(MAB)陆架和斜坡以及墨西哥湾流和马尾藻海-这是一组不同的区域，汇集了亚极地和热带水域，并对北大西洋西部的海洋循环、热量传输、生物生产力和海洋碳循环产生了严重影响。从船上进行的测量包括声学多普勒海流剖面仪(ADCP)的水流速度和消耗式水温仪(XBTS)和海温仪的温度。然而，最近的船只更换需要更换海洋仪器的安装，并随后减少从船上安装的ADCP返回的数据。该项目的重点是解决仪器性能问题，并使夹竹桃恢复海洋数据的常规返回。二氧化碳分压(二氧化碳分压)的观测也与海温盐度计同步进行，并有一个连续的浮游生物采样记录器。该项目将使最新的夹竹桃科学传感器上线，并继续和加强该商业船只沿单一航线的常规服务所实现的现场测量。这些测量对于研究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至关重要。墨西哥湾流系统的年际至年代际变化对区域和整个流域都有影响。墨西哥湾流的蜿蜒运动影响着与周围水域的交换过程。此外，气候模型指出了大西洋子午线翻转环流(AMOC)的快速变化，该环流的温暖分支被携带在墨西哥湾流中，并表明AMOC的变异性也驱动了在大陆架和海岸观察到的变化。为了了解基本过程并验证或驳斥基于模型的假设，有必要对墨西哥湾流和周围水域进行数十年的现场记录。夹竹桃线覆盖大陆架、坡度、墨西哥湾流和马尾藻水域，非常适合直接测量与AMOC有关的通量，并与其他纬度的AMOC估计进行比较，以检查子午线的一致性。对美国东北部大陆架和斜坡上长期变化和事件规模过程的驱动因素的进一步了解，对拥有重要商业价值的渔业的人口稠密海岸的大陆架生态系统的物候和健康具有影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.