Collaborative Research: A Study of the Extension of the North Atlantic Current and Pathways of Exchange

9531878 大西洋环流和气候实验（ACCE） 世界海洋环流实验（WOCE），该项目中的PI将 寻找北大西洋暖流（NAC）的路径 以及锋面交换的地点和机制， 80个等密度RAFOS漂浮物将在附近的各个地点发射 关于NAC 具体目标包括：（1）探索 锋面将寒冷、新鲜的副极地海水分隔开来， 温暖，咸亚热带水的南部，（2）试图量化 两个环流之间的机制和交换率。 结合 伍兹霍尔的鲍尔和理查森博士的野外项目 海洋学研究所，他们还将扩大研究的分歧 在北大西洋东部的时候 北大西洋洋流（NAC）被认为是北半球翻转环流的一个重要组成部分，既是主要的向北穿透的上层洋流，也是副热带和副极地环流之间发生热力学交换的区域。 它的性质从一个 强烈的，地形控制的急流在西部边界，到一个不太明确的，也许是转向东偏北后， 佛兰芒角 目前尚不清楚NAC是否是一个独立的阵线， 翻译北和南，前线的集合，或者只是一个广泛的 东流，也不完全了解它的命运。 虽然大部分流量是 在北方和欧洲，也会发生一些再循环， 在试图理解和量化 翻转单元的控制因素。

9531878 Rossby As a contribution to the Atlantic Circulation and Climate Experiment (ACCE) of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), the Pis in this project will seek to identify the pathways of the warm-water North Atlantic Current (NAC) and the sites and mechanisms of frontal exchange across it using approximately 80 isopycnal RAFOS floats to be launched at various locations in the vicinity of the NAC. Specific objectives include: (1) exploring the structure of the front which separates the cold, fresh subpolar water to the north and the warm, saline subtropical water to the south, and (2) attempting to quantify the mechanisms and rates of exchange between the two gyres. In conjunction with the field program of Drs. Bower and Richardson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, they will also expand the study of the bifurcation of the NAC as it enters the eastern North Atlantic. The North Atlantic Current (NAC) is recognized as a crucial element of the meridional overturning cell, both as the primary northward-penetrating upper-ocean current and as a region where thermodynamic exchange occurs between the subtropical and subpolar gyre. Its character changes from an intense, topographically controlled jet in the western boundary, to a less- defined, perhaps filamented eastward flow after veering east north of the Flemish Cap. It is not clear whether the NAC is a discrete front that translates north and south, a collection of fronts, or simply a broad swath of eastward flow, nor is its fate fully understood. Although most of the flow is to the north and towards Europe, some recirculation occurs as well, and this partitioning of pathways is important in attempting to understand and quantify the controlling factors of the overturning cell.