The Oleander Project: Sustained Observations of Upper Ocean Currents

9819724 Rossby在过去六年中，私人投资经理监督了从新泽西到百慕大的每周往返运输的集装箱船CMV Oleander上声学多普勒海流剖面仪(ADCP)的操作。最初的目标是跟踪墨西哥湾流的低频变化，特别是关于质量和热量(温度)输送的变化。在此期间，墨西哥湾流相当稳定，而再环流涡旋表现出明显的变化。坡面水温与墨西哥湾流平均纬度之间的强烈相关性表明，墨西哥湾流的平均纬度受来自拉布拉多海的陆架水输送控制，在年度甚至更长的时间尺度上。在这个项目中，物价指数将把这一系列再延续四年，以确定最近观察到的北大西洋风应力的重大变化(北大西洋涛动指数的下降)是否反映在墨西哥湾流输送的变化中。全球强迫的其他重大变化(厄尔尼诺、拉尼娜)也可能产生影响，这些影响将在未来几年显现出来。

9819724RossbyFor the past six years, the PIs have overseen the operation of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) on a container ship of opportunity, the CMV Oleander, on weekly round trip transits from New Jersey to Bermuda. The original objective was to track the low frequency variability of the Gulf Stream, particularly with respect to variations in mass and heat (temperature) transport. During this period, the Gulf Stream has been quite stable, while the recirculation gyres show noticeable variability. A strong correlation between Slope Water temperature and mean latitude of the Gulf Stream suggests that the latter is controlled by shelf water transports from the Labrador Sea, on annual and even longer time scales. In this project, the PIs will continue this series for another four years to determine if recently observed major changes in the North Atlantic wind stress (drop in the NAO index) are reflected in changes in the Gulf Stream transport. Other major changes in global forcing (El Nino, La Nina) also may have effects that would show up in the next several years.