A Simple Method for Measuring Deep Convection
The glass-pipe technology used for RAFOS floats is applied to the monitoring of convection in deep mixed layers. The velocity of a vertical current is estimated from the relationship between the drag force exerted on a float by the vertical current and the buoyancy force induced by the float's...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | unknown |
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DigitalCommons@URI
1993
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| Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/311 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1993)010<0609:ASMFMD>2.0.CO;2 https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/context/gsofacpubs/article/1311/viewcontent/Rossby_SimpleMethod_1993.pdf |
| Summary: | The glass-pipe technology used for RAFOS floats is applied to the monitoring of convection in deep mixed layers. The velocity of a vertical current is estimated from the relationship between the drag force exerted on a float by the vertical current and the buoyancy force induced by the float's resultant displacement from hydrostatic equilibrium. Tests conducted in the winters of 1990 and 1991 in the 18°C waters of the northwestern Sargasso Sea reveal definite convective events. Vertical velocities of both upwelling and downwelling plumes are estimated to approach maxima nearing 0.05 m s−1, with durations of up to 2 h. One float that crossed the Gulf Stream and entered the Newfoundland Basin showed evidence of very active vertical currents in the near-surface waters with maximum velocities greater than 0.09 m s−1. |
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