Collaborative Research: Dynamics of Cross-Shelf Plumes under Upwelling Wind Conditions

该项目将通过浮力羽毛研究陆源河流水域与开阔海域之间的联系。该项目将评估河流流量、潮汐和风在整个大陆架浮力羽流的形成和维持中所起的作用。对于这种评估，该项目将使用舰载测量、自主水面飞行器、自主飞行器(无人机)和一个浮动平台，并将由计算机模型模拟作为补充。该项目将提供将用于全球尺度模式的陆地和公海过程之间的联系的近似值。该项目还将促进研究密集型大学和本科学院之间的互动。它将培养研究生，并为本科生提供宝贵的经验。这项研究集中于超临界海岸浮力羽流的动力学，这些羽流在大陆架上倾斜扩展。这些漂浮的羽状物将低盐度的水输送到大陆架上，并可能被大陆架边缘流动的洋流卷走。浮力羽流受风应力(上升流有利)和浮力强迫之间的平衡的影响。微咸水的潮汐脉冲干扰了这种动态平衡，产生了被称为次羽流的径向锋面。这些次羽流随后被埃克曼输送平流。数据收集将包括对Winyah Bay羽流的4次季节性调查，这些调查使用船只(联合国内罗毕办事处要求的船只)、无人机、自主水面车辆和一个浮动平台，以获得水速、盐度、温度和湍流特性的轮廓。只要水平密度梯度较大，且惯性周期大于潮汐周期，亚羽锋面就无处不在。观测将得到非静力数值模式的数值模拟的补充。作为更广泛的影响，这项研究将允许将跨陆架羽流参数化为研究陆地-海洋交换的较低分辨率模型。该项目将支持2名硕士和1名博士生，并为几名本科生提供巡游机会。收集的数据及其分析将编制海洋数据分析模块，分发给海洋界。该项目将是与R1和一家教学机构的合作。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。

The project will investigate the linkage of land-derived riverine waters with open ocean waters via 'buoyant plumes.' The project will assess the role of river discharge, tides and winds in the formation and maintenance of the buoyant plumes throughout the continental shelf. For such assessment, the project will use shipboard measurements, Autonomous Surface Vehicles, Autonomous flying vehicles (drones), and a floating platform that will be complemented by computer model simulations. The project will provide approximations of the linkage between land and open-ocean processes to be used in global-scale models. The project will also facilitate interactions between a research intensive university and an undergraduate college. It will train graduate students and provide valuable experiences to undergraduate students. This study concentrates on the dynamics of supercritical coastal buoyant plumes that expand obliquely across the shelf. These buoyant plumes transport low salinity waters across the continental shelf and can be entrained by ocean currents flowing by the shelf’s edge. The buoyant plumes are influenced by the balance between wind stress (upwelling-favorable) and buoyancy forcing. Tidal pulses of brackish water interfere with such dynamic balance to produce radial fronts referred to as sub-plumes. These sub-plumes are subsequently advected by Ekman transport. Data collection will consist of 4 seasonal surveys of Winyah Bay plume using ships (UNOLS ship requested), drones, Autonomous Surface Vehicles, and a floating platform to obtain profiles of water velocity, salinity, temperature, and turbulence properties. The sub-plume fronts shall be ubiquitous as long as the horizontal density gradient is prominent and the inertial period is greater than the tidal period. Observations will be complemented by numerical simulations with a non-hydrostatic numerical model. As Broader Impacts, the study will allow parametrization of cross-shelf plumes into lower resolution models that study land-ocean exchanges. The project will support 2 MS and 1 PhD students, and offer cruise opportunities to several undergraduate students. Data collected and their analysis will produce Ocean Data Analysis modules to be distributed to the oceanographic community. The project will be a collaboration between and R1 and a teaching institution.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.