Investigating Near-Surface Ocean Heating and Mixing Processes in the Presence of Surface Material

太阳辐射是上层海洋最大的加热形式，由于其穿透到海洋表面之下，对于海-气通量平衡来说是独一无二的。据推测，在藻类大量繁殖和表面浮油存在的情况下，近地表加热会得到加强，但目前的模型还没有考虑到这一点。尽管表面浮油在世界海洋中很常见，但由于缺乏适当的观测工具，我们对这些浮油如何影响海洋加热的了解有限。通过使用舰载高耐力无人驾驶飞行器(UAS)，调查人员瞄准了大规模浮油，每天多次覆盖10平方公里。该项目是将UAS技术用于科学方面的一项巨大进步。这项调查将为研究由于表面浮油的存在而导致的上层海洋中的热量分布提供新的见解。该项目将改进表层海洋加热、全球生物地球化学循环和海洋表面温度的每日循环模型。这些结果在南太平洋、海洋大陆和印度洋的区域建模社区内需求很大。该项目将促进下一代海洋学科学家的发展。反叛者将为他们在哥伦比亚大学现有的课程制作教材。他们还将通过地球课堂工作坊与大纽约地区的K-12教师和来自代表性不足群体的大量学生密切合作。该研究项目将分析2019年11月至12月在斐济附近西南太平洋R/V Falkor上使用新工具组合进行的测量。UAS配备了高光谱可见光和宽带热红外相机，以研究海面生物成因浮标的反照率以及海表面皮肤温度(SST)。美国国家气象局和船用仪器测量了海气热/辐射通量和海温；一艘自动双体船测量了海面微层表面活性剂和表层微藻种群的样本；浮游者测量了上层海洋温度、盐度、洋流和湍流的近水面反应；光谱辐射测量提供了对深海净辐射通量的估计；船上红外成像测量了对于上层海洋加热很重要的海洋表面SST的反应。这一结果将进一步加深我们对蓝藻水华和表面浮油在海气物理相互作用中所起作用的理解。这些分析将扩展我们对上层海洋混合层对藻类水华的响应的知识，并提供近地表海洋热收支的新观测。这一奖项反映了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。

Solar radiation is the largest form of heating of the upper ocean and is unique to the air-sea flux balance due to its penetration beneath the ocean surface. It has been speculated that near-surface heating is enhanced in the presence of algal blooms and surface slicks but this has not been accounted for in current models. Although surface slicks are common in the world oceans, our knowledge of how these slicks impact ocean heating has been limited due to the lack of appropriate observational tools. By using ship-deployed high-endurance Unoccupied Aerial Vehicles (UASs), the investigators targeted large-scale slicks and covered 10s of km2 several times a day. The project is a quantum advance in utilizing UAS technology for science. This investigation will provide new insights into the distribution of heat in the upper ocean due to the presence of surface slicks. This project will improve models of the daily cycles of surface ocean heating, global biogeochemical cycles, and sea surface temperature. These results are in great demand within the regional modeling community of the South Pacific, Maritime Continent, and Indian Ocean. The project will foster the development of the next generation of scientists in Oceanography. The inverstigators will create teaching materials for their existing course at Columbia University. They will also work closely with K-12 teachers in the greater New York City area and with large numbers of students from underrepresented groups through the Earth2Class Workshops.This research project will analyze measurements made onboard the R/V Falkor in November-December 2019 in the Southwest Pacific near Fiji from a combination of novel tools. UASs were equipped with hyperspectral visible, and broadband thermal infrared cameras to study the albedo of sea surface biogenic slicks as well as the sea-surface skin temperature (SST). UASs and ship-based instrumentation measured air-sea heat/radiative fluxes and SST; an autonomous catamaran sampled sea-surface microlayer surfactants and the surface microlayer algae populations; drifters measured the near-surface response of the upper ocean temperature, salinity, ocean currents, and turbulence; spectro-radiometric profiles provided estimates of net radiant flux at depth; and shipboard infrared imaging measured the response of ocean surface SST important to upper-ocean heating. The results will further our understanding of the role cyanobacteria blooms and surface slicks play in physical air-sea interaction. The analyses will expand our knowledge of the upper-ocean mixed layer response to algal blooms and provide novel observations of near-surface ocean heat budget.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.