New high-resolution observations of ocean surface current and winds from innovative airborne and satellite measurements

海洋颜色的高分辨率卫星图像显示了10公里以下尺度的多种海洋特征。小涡旋、漩涡和丝状体遍布全球海洋，但在近海和海冰附近的海流急流、中尺度涡旋等处尤为频繁。最近的研究表明，这些小规模过程通过调节大气、海洋、陆地和冰冻圈之间的相互作用，在全球气候系统中发挥着关键作用，影响着地表和海洋内部之间热量、气体、淡水和营养物质的垂直交换以及水平输送途径。然而，今天对这些过程的了解主要来自模型，几乎没有观测数据可供验证。在现场测量小尺度是非常具有挑战性的，昂贵的和罕见的。该项目研究了一种新型的海洋观测，来自创新的OSCAR机载系统，该系统以1公里或更高的分辨率对洋流和风场进行成像。该项目分析了法国和荷兰最近两次空中活动的数据，并与高分辨率模型、现场传感器和卫星进行了比较。该项目将展示OSCAR数据的附加值，以了解和模拟小规模海洋动力学，并加强地球探测器11 SEASTAR使命候选人的科学动机（Gommenginger等人，2019年）。

High-resolution satellite images of ocean colour reveal a multitude of oceanic features at scales below 10km. Small eddies, whirls and filaments permeate the global ocean but are particularly frequent near current jets, mesoscale eddies, in coastal seas and near sea ice. Recent research show that these small-scale processes play a critical role in the global climate system by modulating interactions between the atmosphere, ocean, land and cryosphere - impacting vertical exchanges of heat, gases, freshwater and nutrients between the surface and the ocean interior and horizontal transport pathways. However, today's knowledge of these processes stems mainly from models, with little observational data available for validation. Measuring small scales in situ is extremely challenging, expensive and rare. This project investigates a new type of ocean observations from the innovative OSCAR airborne system that images ocean current and wind fields at 1km resolution or finer. The project analyses data from two recent airborne campaigns in France and the Netherlands, comparing with high-resolution models, in situ sensors and satellites. The project will demonstrate the added-value of OSCAR data to understand and model small-scale ocean dynamics, and strengthen the scientific motivation of the Earth Explorer 11 SEASTAR mission candidate (Gommenginger et al., 2019).