Capturing Oceanic Submesoscales, Stirring and Mixing with Sound and Simulations

捕捉海洋次中尺度、搅拌和混合与声音和模拟(COSSMoSS)将解决海洋学中最紧迫的问题之一：是什么过程推动了海洋内部的能量转移和性质分布？全球海洋通过分配和储存热量、碳和养分等示踪剂来支撑我们的气候和生物圈。然而，对于同时搅动和混合这些基本性质，并将大尺度流动与微尺度耗散联系在一起的亚中尺度电流(SMC)，人们知之甚少。SMC的空间尺度从10米到100公里，时间尺度从几个小时到几周，本质上是很难观察和建模的。COSSMoSS提出了一个开创性的实验，将在全球海洋盆地交换的热点：巴西-马尔维纳斯交汇处(BMC)捕捉到这些尚未解决的内部现象。在这里，大西洋和南大洋的海水相互碰撞，交换热量、盐、氧气、碳和营养物质。陡峭的横向梯度、能量流和倾斜的地形非常有利于SMC的产生、搅拌和混合。有源声学将首次与自主和基于船舶的仪器相结合，以前所未有的分辨率采样BMC，捕获SMC。同时，观测将验证和推进尖端模拟，以量化SMC的发起、普遍存在和相互作用。通过以无与伦比的细节揭示海洋内部的动力学，COSSMoSS将阐明海洋示踪和能量交换的途径，导致对我们未来生物圈和气候的更好了解。我在海洋声学、动力学和海洋研究方面的独特专业知识的结合，使我成为COSSMoSS的理想领导者。在推动与项目合作伙伴J.McWilliams教授(加州大学洛杉矶分校)开展新的国际合作的同时，我将利用我证明的研究独立性、全球知名度和领导技能来确保其成功。

Capturing Oceanic Submesoscales, Stirring, and Mixing with Sound and Simulations (COSSMoSS) will tackle one of the most pressing questions in oceanography: what processes drive energy transfer and property distributions within the interior ocean? The global oceans underpin our climate and biosphere by distributing and storing tracers such as heat, carbon and nutrients. Yet, little is known about the submesoscale currents (SMCs) that both stir and mix these fundamental properties, and bridge large scale flows with microscale dissipation. Characterised by spatial scales of 10 m to 100 km, and timescales of hours to weeks, SMCs are inherently difficult to observe and model.COSSMoSS presents a pioneering experiment that will capture these unresolved interior phenomena at a global hotspot of ocean-basin interchange: the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (BMC). Here Atlantic and Southern Ocean waters collide and exchange heat, salt, oxygen, carbon and nutrients. Sharp lateral gradients, energetic flows, and sloping topography are highly conducive to SMC generation, stirring, and mixing. Active acoustics will be combined for the first time with autonomous and vessel-based instrumentation to sample the BMC at unprecedented resolutions that capture SMCs. In parallel, observations will validate and advance cutting-edge simulations, to quantify SMC initiation, ubiquity and interactions. By revealing interior ocean dynamics in unparalleled detail, COSSMoSS will shed light on the pathways of oceanic tracer and energy exchange, leading to an improved understanding of our future biosphere and climate.My unique combination of expertise in ocean acoustics, dynamics, and research at sea, make me the ideal leader for COSSMoSS. While driving forward a new international collaboration with project partner Prof. J. McWilliams (University of California Los Angeles), I will use my demonstrated research independence, global profile, and leadership skills to ensure its success.