Intellectual Merit: This project is directed at evaluating a novel technique for measuring the horizontal velocity field in the ocean at small vertical scales with a vertical resolution of order 2 meters. There is a growing appreciation that small scales in the ocean can have a profound effect on the larger scale dynamics and fluxes in the ocean. These scales are often poorly resolved in general circulation models and their impacts are not well understood. The present study will examine these scales in the interleaving region of the equatorial Pacific in order to address two major questions: what is the formation mechanism of the interleaving, and what is the velocity field associated with it. In order to measure these velocity fields at high vertical resolution, data from a shipboard ADCP will be blended with data from a lowered ADCP. There are technical questions regarding matching measurements in the vertical as well as resolution questions that must be addressed with data from the field. The project is exploratory because it is aimed at testing a promising, novel tool for measuring the horizontal velocity field at high vertical resolution. In addition, its timing is critical to take advantage of an impending cruise to the Equatorial Pacific.
Broader Impacts: The software that will be developed for this will be made readily available to the community. This technique, if successful, will allow a thorough examination of small vertical scale velocities associated with phenomena such as mid-latitude fronts and sub-mesoscale features using equipment that is readily available and reasonably easy to use. It is expected that measurements such as these will lead to the examination of, as yet, unexplored features in the ocean. The proposal includes the training of a postdoc at sea and with the data.
