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Airborne Remote Sensing of Upper-Ocean and Surface Properties, Currents and Their Gradients From Meso to Submesoscales

Abstract

In this work we present a unique set of coincident and collocated high-resolution observations of surface currents and directional properties of surface waves collected from an airborne instrument, the Modular Aerial Sensing System, collected off the coast of Southern California. High-resolution observations of near surface current profiles and shear are obtained using a new instrument, “DoppVis”, capable of capturing horizontal spatial current variability down to 128 m resolution. This data set provides a unique opportunity to examine how currents at scales ranging from 1 to 100 km modulate bulk (e.g., significant wave height), directional and spectral properties of surface gravity waves. Such observations are a step toward developing better understanding of the underlying physics of submesoscale processes (e.g., frontogenesis and frontal arrest) and the nature of transitions between mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics.
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Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

  • Luc Lenain
  • Benjamin Smeltzer
  • Nick Pizzo
  • Freilich Maria
  • Luke Colosi
  • Simen Andreas Ådnøy Ellingsen
  • Laurent Grare
  • Hugo Peyriere
  • Nick Statom

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Ocean / Skip og havkonstruksjoner
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Brown University
  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Year

2023

Published in

Geophysical Research Letters

ISSN

0094-8276

Volume

50

Issue

8

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository