Experimental Physical Oceanography


 


4D Current Experiment
(Florida Strait)

P. E. An
S.M. Smith
L.K. Shay
H. Peters
J.C. Van Leer
A.J. Mariano
The goal of the proposed study is to understand the role of small-scale physical processes in the coastal ocean through observations of the four-dimensional current variability. The approach combines the FAU Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology with the UM Ocean Surface Current Radar (OSCR). The engineering part of the proposed research seeks to develop, integrate and test instrumentation designed to measure and characterize the subsurface current structure from AUVs and moorings. The working scientific hypothesis is that subsurface and surface currents are dynamically linked through the internal wave continuum within a four-dimensional physical environment, which can be reconstructed by integrating AUV, OSCR, shipboard and moored observations.

Results: Shay et al. (2000), Shay et al. (2002), Peters et al. (2002)