*** Graber 9721630 In this study we propose to augment the on-going biological and physical sampling phase of Cowen, Lwiza and Schultz (NSF OCE:-9521104) on the west coast of the oceanic island Barbados with surface current measurements using HF remote sensing technology. The measurements would provide maps of the evolution of the spatial and temporal variability in the regional circulation and the interactions of local flow with eddies generated at the retroflection of the North Brazil Current. The radar would operate in HF mode which would provide a spatial resolution of 1 km and would coincide with the shipboard biological/physical sampling scheme. The radar currents would provide crucial information on the dominant flow components such as tides, wind-driven, mean and residual circulation in this region. The HF radar measurements would be used to characterize the time space scales of the hydrographic signatures associated with eddies generated by the retroflection of the North Brazil Current. The addition of the remotely sensed currents to the shipboard sampling will provide direct measurements of the surface flow. Such information is crucial to interpreting the distribution of late-stage larvae that occupy this upper layer of the water column. Decomposing the current into components would be used to examine how the flow is influenced by such forcing agents as the wind. This is particularly valuable in the lee of the island where the wind stress will vary both spatially and temporally. Combining the surface and subsurface current measurements with the biological sampling would allow us to examine the linkages between reef fish larval distributions and island flow patterns. Specifically our study could assess the impact of offshore mesoscale events disturbing the local now regime and the fate of larval retention. Such knowledge is essential to understand the translocation patterns of coral reef fish larvae in an island wake environment. ***
