A Study of Warm Core Ring - Shelf/Slope Interaction from the Oleander Project

[04:25 . 41]学术价值：夹竹桃项目的设想主要是建立对墨西哥湾流向极的质量和热量输送的长期监测。自1992年10月以来，集装箱船MV夹油桃号（MV Oleander）每周往返于纽约和百慕大之间，几乎连续不断地收集ADCP观测数据。在过去的9年中（1993-2001年），共获得了554个有用的陆架/斜坡样带，并对沉降进行了完整的分析，为了解中大西洋浅海陆架/斜坡环流提供了新的见解。但是，也许从夹竹桃样带中更能揭示的是观测结果，这些观测表明，在过境区观测到的温暖的核心环对陆架/斜坡有很大的影响。近一半的样带受到与暖核环相关的强东风洋流的影响，这表明暖核环很可能主导了大陆架斜坡的水交换。因此，完成考虑暖核环影响的陆架/斜坡环流研究是及时的。在这个项目中，来自纽约州立大学石溪分校的研究人员将继续夹竹桃项目目前的数据分析工作，但将重点转向解释而不是质量保证。具体来说，科学家团队将把夹竹桃观测结果与卫星和其他补充数据结合起来，调查墨西哥湾暖流核心环与大西洋中部大陆架和斜坡的相互作用。每个环引起的小尺度特征将被分离出来，并检查它们的产生机制，以便研究人员可以：1)定义小尺度气旋、反气旋和射流（飘带和架裂射流）相对于暖环的旋转运动的速度结构；2)确定环坡相互作用的类型是否与环的大小、强度和与大陆架断裂的接近程度有显著不同；3)确定环坡相互作用的季节依赖性和可能的年际变化（与湾流路径变化有关）。4)研究气旋、反气旋和飘带的形成机制。更广泛的影响：在暖核环没有明显影响的时期，确定了平均和季节性陆架/斜坡流。结果表明，向赤道方向的输送远远超出了陆架断裂的范围，上坡流是陆架水输送的主要来源。由于冰架/斜坡流在环期间能量更大，暖心环很可能主导冰架和斜坡之间的交换。目前，人们对环-坡相互作用知之甚少。这项提议的研究将揭示这一重要但长期被忽视的过程。其影响可能是巨大的，导致对跨大陆边缘的物质（水、盐、碳循环等）交换有了新的认识。这个项目还包括培养一名博士生。首席研究员致力于培养不同背景（和专业兴趣）的下一代领导者。他还参与了该校新的本科生环境研究项目，并计划在卫星图像处理和分析领域招收几名本科生，以获得该项目的荣誉学分。

0425413Intellectual merit: The Oleander project was conceived primarily to establish a long-term monitoring of the Gulf Stream's pole ward transport of mass and heat. Since October of 1992, the container ship, the MV Oleander, has been collecting ADCP observations on an almost continuous basis as the ship makes its weekly trips between New York and Bermuda. Over the last nine years (1993-2001) a total of 554 useful shelf/slope transects have been obtained, as well as a complete analysis of detiding, which has offered new insights about the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelf/slope circulation. But, perhaps what has been even more revealing from the Oleander transects are the observations which have indicated that the warm core rings observed over the transit area have sustained much influence on the shelf/slope. Nearly one-half of the transects were influenced by strong easterly currents associated with warm core rings, suggesting that the warm core rings most likely dominate the shelf-slope water exchange. Therefore, it is timely to complete a study of the shelf/slope circulation that also considers the impact of warm core rings. In this project, researchers from the State University of New York at Stony Brooks will continue the present data analysis effort of the Oleander project, but shift the emphasis toward interpretation rather than quality assurance. Specifically, the team of scientists will combine the Oleander observations with satellite and other complimentary data, to investigate the interaction of the Gulf Stream warm core rings with the Mid-Atlantic Bight shelf and slope. Each ring-induced small-scale feature along the transit line will be isolated and their generation mechanisms examined, so that the researchers can: 1) define the velocity structures of small-scale cyclones, anticyclones, and jets (streamers and shelfbreak jet) with respect to the swirling motion of the warm rings; 2) determine whether or not there are significantly different types of ring-slope interactions in relation to the ring size, strength, and proximity to the shelfbreak; 3) determine the seasonal dependence and possible interannual variability (in relation to Gulf Stream path variations) of the ring-slope interaction. And 4) Examine the mechanisms of generation of cyclones, anticyclones, and streamers.Broader Impacts: The mean and seasonal shelf/slope currents are determined for the period of no visible influence of warm core rings. It is shown that the equatorward transport extends well beyond the shelf break and that the upper slope currents are a major source of the shelf water transport.. Since the shelf/slope currents are much more energetic during the ring period, it is likely that warm core rings may dominate the exchange between shelf and slope. At present, very little is known about the ring-slope interaction. The proposed study will shed insights about this important but long ignored process. The implication can be enormous, leading to a new understanding of the material (water, salt, carbon cycle, etc.) exchange across the continental margin. This project also includes training of a Ph.D. student. The principal investigator is committed to training of the next generation leaders of diverse background (and professional interests). He also is involved with the university's new undergraduate environmental studies program and plans to engage several undergraduate students for honor credits in this project, in the area of processing and analysis of satellite imagery.