Mixed Layer Revolution and Mesoscale Variability in the Labrador Sea

• Main Authors: Rossby, H T, Prater, Mark D
• Other Authors: RHODE ISLAND UNIV NARRAGANSETT GRADUATE SCHOOL OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Fluid Mechanics; Thermodynamics; *CONVECTION; *EDDIES(FLUID MECHANICS); *HEAT FLUX; *LABRADOR SEA; *MIXED LAYER(MARINE); *OCEAN SURFACE; *STRATIFICATION; *VARIATIONS; EVOLUTION(GENERAL); FLOATS; HEAT; LAGRANGIAN FUNCTIONS; PRESSURE; SURFACE WATERS; TEMPERATURE; TIME SERIES ANALYSIS; TURBULENCE; *MESOSCALE VARIABILITY; TURBULENT HEAT FLUXES; RAFOS FLOATS; VERTICAL PROFILES; MIXED LAYER HEAT CONTENT; WATER COLUMN HEAT CONTENT; Hudson; Labrador Sea
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA551666; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA551666

Our long-term goal is to understand the effects of mesoscale variability on upper ocean processes. The objective of this project is to understand how mesoscale variability (primarily due to eddies) affects both the depth and character of convection as well as the subsequent restratification of upper ocean waters in the Labrador Sea. We want to understand the links among the evolution of the surface mixed layer, changes in heat content, and turbulent heat fluxes in the water column before, during, and after deep convection. We used acoustically tracked, neutrally buoyant RAFOS floats to tag and follow water in the Labrador Sea. The four sound sources used for float navigation and four convection RAFOS floats were deployed from the C.S.S. Hudson in the fall of 1996. During the winter 1997 cruise of the R/V Knorr an additional 18 floats were launched, with 9 more from the spring 1997 cruise of the C.S.S. Hudson. We did, however suffer an unexpectedly large failure rate; out of the 31 floats launched, 14 were not heard from again or returned no useful data. An additional 14 floats surfaced prematurely as a fail-safe response to the floats' central processing computer lockingup. After implementing repairs for the above problem and deploying 23 additional floats from the January 1998 cruise on the R/V Knorr, we uncovered yet another problem. Due to a modification in the float software made prior to this experiment, all the float data from the 1998 convection season was garbled in an irrecoverable manner before transmission. In spite of our difficulties, we did obtain 60 vertical profiles to almost 1000-m depth, 11 float-months of subsurface Lagrangian trajectories, and over 400 5-hour T/P time-series. See also ADM002252.