Exploring extreme vertical currents in the Western Mediterranean Sea

探索西地中海的极端垂直流

• 批准号: 2241754
• 负责人: MARIA CAPO TRUYOLS
• 金额: $ 50.64万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-01 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2241754&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Exploring; extreme; vertical; currents; Western

The goal of this project is to explore motions that connect the surface and the bottom of the ocean with the interior, the so-called ‘submesoscale currents’, which influence the variability of biogeochemical properties in the ocean. These motions span between hundreds and thousands of meters in the horizontal, between tens and hundreds of meters in the vertical, and they vary over several hours to days. Aspects investigated in this project are the spatial structure of the motions, their dynamics, and how their associated vertical velocities connect the surface and bottom layers with the ocean’s interior. The exploration will be done combining multiple computer simulations focused in the Alboran Sea, the westernmost region of the Mediterranean basin. The study will extend the investigators’ own results that scrutinized submesoscale motions in this region. Those results illustrated that vertical transports occur near surface fronts (the boundary between water masses of different properties) and at the bottom near topographic obstacles. This project intends to expand on the previous results by scrutinizing the evolution of submesoscale motions. The study is based on the hypothesis, based on previous results, that the largest vertical velocities in the study area are associated to surface fronts and to interactions of the currents with bottom topography. Results from this study should contribute to better understanding of the vertical transport of materials in the ocean. The project will provide opportunities for Spanish PhD students to visit UCLA and acquire experiences in computational fluid dynamics, data analysis, and scientific communication. It will also involve high-school student outreach activities.The goal of this project is to explore the role of submesoscale currents in promoting vertical currents that connect the surface and bottom layers with the ocean interior. The study will be based on numerical simulations of the Alboran Sea, in the western Mediterranean basin. The work builds on a recent, realistic, high-resolution numerical model study by the PIs that analyzes submesoscale flows in this region. Those results illustrate that rapid and deep vertical displacements are associated with surface fronts and with interactions of the currents with bathymetry. The PIs will conduct extensive numerical simulations with a series of realistic, nested-model experiments at increasing time and spatial resolutions, in combination with idealized process-study simulations and Lagrangian approaches. This combination of realistic-process strategy will describe the spontaneous emergence and subsequent evolution of submesoscale currents. The project will advance understanding of the mechanisms that trigger vertical currents in the ocean, which have relevant physical and biogeochemical implications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目的目标是探索连接海洋表面和底部与内部的运动，即所谓的“亚尺度洋流”，它影响海洋中生物地球化学特性的变化，这些运动的范围从数百到数千。水平方向为数米，垂直方向为数十米到数百米，并且它们在几个小时到几天内变化。该项目研究的方面是运动的空间结构、它们的动力学以及它们相关的垂直速度如何连接表面。和底部这项探索将结合针对地中海盆地最西端地区阿尔沃兰海的多个计算机模拟进行。这些结果表明，研究人员对该地区的亚中尺度运动进行了仔细研究。垂直输送发生在地表前沿（不同性质的水团之间的边界）附近和地形障碍物附近的底部。该项目旨在通过仔细研究亚尺度运动的演化来扩展先前的结果。这项研究基于先前结果的假设，即研究区域的最大垂直速度与表面锋面以及海流与底部地形的相互作用有关。这项研究的结果应有助于更好地了解水体的垂直输送。该项目将为西班牙博士生提供访问加州大学洛杉矶分校并获得计算流体动力学、数据分析和科学交流经验的机会。该项目的目标是探索亚尺度电流的作用促进连接表层和底层与海洋内部的垂直流这项研究将基于对西地中海盆地阿尔沃兰海的数值模拟。这些结果表明，快速而深的垂直位移与地表锋面以及海流与测深的相互作用有关。增加时间和空间分辨率的嵌套模型实验，结合理想化过程研究模拟和拉格朗日方法，将描述亚中尺度电流的自发出现和随后的演化，该项目将促进对这些机制的理解。触发海洋中的垂直流，具有相关的物理和生物地球化学影响。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。