A Multi-Spectral Thermal Infrared Imaging System for Air-Sea Interaction Research

最近的研究表明，单纯基于风速的参数化方法不能充分描述地球大气和海洋之间的物理相互作用。与平坦表面上的风不同，海洋表面的显著特征是波浪形成、生长、相互作用，并最终破裂。在这个过程中，波改变了近地表气流的湍流特性，从而改变了大气和海洋交换动量和能量的方式。虽然在实验室和通过数值模拟对这种效应进行了广泛的研究，但在真实的海洋中观察这种效应并因此进行量化是非常困难的。为了解决这一基本知识差距，将在该项目期间开发一种多光谱热红外成像系统。这一新颖的设备将能够在不中断流动的情况下，对海洋最上层的粘性(即分子尺度)应力和热传输进行以前无法获得的真实海洋观测，而这项任务以前被归入受控实验室环境。这些21世纪的测量将对基本的海-气输送过程产生重要的洞察，从而直接改善在天气和气候模式中处理大气-海洋相互作用的方式。该项目将开发一种多光谱红外成像系统，该系统能够详细测量水中粘性亚层中湍流特征的垂直轮廓。这将使水侧切向应力和温度分布(即热通量)的直接非侵入性测量成为可能，这将是在真实海洋中进行的变革性测量。该系统将在受控实验室环境中对照行业标准参考测量进行广泛验证，以便仔细确定误差源和应用限制。建成后，它将能够在固定的塔台、舰船和空中平台上安装和运行。该系统产生的数据对于制定全面的海气通量框架和验证预报天气、海浪以及区域和全球气候变化的模型是基本的。拟议的工作包括在两年内设计、建造、校准和测试仪器。这一奖励反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Recent research has shown that physical interactions between the earth’s atmosphere and ocean are inadequately described by purely windspeed-based parameterizations. In contrast to wind flow over flat surfaces, the ocean surface prominently features waves that form, grow, interact with each other, and eventually break. In the course of this process, the waves alter the turbulent properties of the airflow near the surface and thus change how the atmosphere and ocean exchange momentum and energy. While this effect has been studied extensively in the laboratory and through numerical modeling, it is exceptionally difficult to observe, and therefore quantify, in the real ocean. To address this fundamental knowledge gap, a multi-spectral thermal infrared imaging system will be developed during this project. This novel device will enable the previously-unavailable real ocean observation of viscous (i.e., molecular-scale) stress and heat transfer in the uppermost layer of the sea without disrupting the flow, a task previously relegated to the controlled laboratory setting. These 21st-century measurements will yield crucial insight into basic air-sea transfer processes, thereby directly improving the way in which atmosphere-ocean interactions are treated in weather and climate models.This project will develop a multi-spectral infrared imaging system which is capable of measuring in detail the vertical profile of turbulent features in the aqueous viscous sublayer. This will enable the direct non-invasive measurement of the water-side tangential stress and temperature profile (i.e., heat flux), which would be transformational measurements to make in the real ocean. This system will be subjected to extensive validation in a controlled laboratory environment against industry-standard reference measurements, allowing for the careful determination of error sources and limits of application. When it is completed, it will be capable of installation and operation on fixed tower, ship, and airborne platforms. The data produced by this system are fundamental for the development of a comprehensive air-sea flux framework and the validation of models which forecast weather, waves and regional and global climate change. The proposed work includes the designing, building, calibration, and testing of the instrument over a two-year period.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.