As part of a project to equip a cruise liner with state-of-the-art oceanographic and atmospheric science laboratories, the Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship, Explorer of the Seas, was fitted with two, hull-mounted, acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP). This enables the ship to take continuous velocity measurements to depths of 1000 meters. Currently, the velocity data set from the Explorer of the Seas represents five years of measurements collected along transects throughout the Intra-Americas Sea. These measurements illustrate the link between the northern Caribbean inflows with the flow into the Gulf of Mexico through the Yucatan Channel and the outflow through Florida Straits and have enormous potential for improving our understanding of the circulation in this region.
Oceanographers from the University of Miami will analyze the data collected from the Explorer of the Seas to help improve the understanding of the circulation of the Intra-America Seas and its variability on monthly to pentannual time scales. Through the construction of time series and analysis of satellite data and numerical model outputs, the PI will investigate the variability of the inflows and outflows of the Yucatan and Florida Currents transports, as well as their connection to deep flow reversals in the Yucatan Passage.
This project will support the careful processing, analysis, and dissemination of a vast data set that will shed light on several fundamental, unsolved science questions about the flows of the Intra-Americas Sea. Funding from this project will provide training and support for a postdoctoral scholar as well as aid in advancing an early-career scientist from an under-represented group in physical oceanography.
