Impact of Irminger Rings on Deep Convection in the Labrador Sea

伊尔明格环对拉布拉多海深层对流的影响

• 批准号: 0623192
• 负责人: Amy Bower
• 金额: $ 148.9万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-10-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0623192&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Impact; Irminger; Rings; Deep; Convection

The Labrador Sea, located in the northern North Atlantic Ocean, is a region where the ocean waters are consistently cooled by dry, cold winter winds coming from northern Canada. The cooled, and therefore dense "Labrador Sea Water" sinks and spreads widely throughout the North Atlantic and beyond, thereby "communicating" changes in the earth's climate to the deep ocean. A current carrying warmer waters flows into the Labrador Sea to balance this lost heat, the Irminger Current, but it is confined mainly to the periphery of the Labrador Sea. Occasionally, eddies containing a core of warm boundary current water, called Irminger Rings, break off and drift into the interior region of the Labrador Sea. Although the location of some of these eddies can be determined from satellite-borne instruments, there are very few actual in situ measurements of where and how they deposit their cargo of warm water into the open sea. Such information is needed to determine the impact of the rings on the heat balance of the Labrador Sea. New in situ measurements of Irminger Rings will be made using a combination of established and innovative technology. A deep-sea mooring with temperature, salinity and current sensors will be deployed in the path of young Irminger Rings for two years beginning in 2007 to observe their initial vertical and horizontal structure. It is anticipated that ~12 newly formed Irminger Rings will pass over the mooring site based on a census of eddies from satellite observations. Attached to the same mooring will be 12 profiling floats: one float will be released each time an eddy passes the mooring. Trapped in the eddy cores by the ring's strong swirling velocity, the floats will measure changes in their water properties for up to two years. These observations will be combined with satellite data and other in situ measurements to estimate the flux of heat into the interior Labrador Sea, and to verify results from numerical models.This research will contribute to the advancement of climate science as well as oceanography. The project involves collaboration with Canadian oceanographers and will contribute to international exchange of scientific ideas. Through a pilot program with the Perkins School for the Blind, we will provide an educational experience to a group of students typically underrepresented in the geosciences.

拉布拉多海位于北大西洋北部，该地区的海水持续受到来自加拿大北部的干燥寒冷的冬季风的冷却。冷却后稠密的“拉布拉多海水”下沉并广泛扩散到整个北大西洋及其他地区，从而将地球气候的变化“传达”到深海。一股携带温暖海水的洋流流入拉布拉多海，以平衡损失的热量，即伊尔明格洋流，但它主要局限于拉布拉多海的外围。 有时，含有温暖边界流水核心的涡流（称为伊尔明格环）会破裂并漂入拉布拉多海的内部区域。尽管其中一些涡流的位置可以通过卫星仪器确定，但对于它们将温水沉积到公海的位置和方式的实际现场测量却很少。需要这些信息来确定环对拉布拉多海热平衡的影响。伊明格环的新原位测量将结合现有技术和创新技术进行。从 2007 年开始，将在年轻的伊明格环的路径上部署一个带有温度、盐度和电流传感器的深海系泊装置，为期两年，以观察其最初的垂直和水平结构。根据卫星观测的涡流普查，预计大约有 12 个新形成的伊明格环将经过系泊地点。同一系泊处将安装 12 个仿形浮标：每当涡流经过该系泊处时，就会释放一个浮标。由于环的强大旋转速度，浮标被困在涡流核心中，浮标将在长达两年的时间内测量其水特性的变化。这些观测结果将与卫星数据和其他现场测量相结合，以估计进入拉布拉多海内陆的热通量，并验证数值模型的结果。这项研究将有助于气候科学和海洋学的进步。该项目涉及与加拿大海洋学家的合作，并将有助于国际科学思想的交流。通过与帕金斯盲人学校的试点项目，我们将为一群在地球科学领域通常代表性不足的学生提供教育体验。