Research Objectives:
Currents in the Southern Ocean have a profound influence on the world's oceans, and therefore upon global temperature and the planet's ecosystem. Yet some remote regions receive little scientific attention. Using Doppler technology (sound-wave transmission and reflection), this project is exploring upper ocean current velocities. Researchers are building a quality-controlled data set in one such sparsely sampled and remote region, which nonetheless appears to play a significant role in global ocean circulation. They will develop and maintain a shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) program on board the USAP research vessel Laurence M. Gould (R/V LMG).
Part of the long-term science goal is to characterize the temporal and spatial velocity structure in the Southern Ocean. This entails measuring the seasonal and annual changes in upper ocean currents within the Drake Passage and then combining this information with similar temperature observations to see how the heat exchange varies and how it drives upper ocean currents.
For five years, this project's ADCP and TSG (thermosalinograph) instruments have been installed on the R/V LMG. During each cruise, data is collected and transmitted to the home institution. Shipboard electronics technicians and computer support staff maintain and monitor the systems.
