- Industria: Education
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Founded in 1876, Texas A&M University is a U.S. public and comprehensive university offering a wide variety of academic programs far beyond its original label of agricultural and mechanical trainings. It is one of the few institutions holding triple federal designations as a land-, sea- and ...
An experiment that took place in the Pacific Ocean northwest of Kauai, Hawaii in July 1993. The objective was to improve transport and diffusion models by improving the understanding of alongwind diffusion. The experiment involved a series of airborne SF6 releases from an Air Force C–130 transport aircraft, which flew perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction and released lines of SF6 in the marine boundary layer. A second aircraft with a continuous SF6 analyzer sampled the plume at distances up to 100 km downwind, with six small boats also tracking the plume to similar distances. Analyses indicated that both vertical and downwind diffusion components are needed for highly accurate model simulations.
Industry:Earth science
An experiment that took place in the subtropical North Atlantic near the eastern flank of the Bermuda/Azores atmospheric high pressure system from June 1991 to June 1993. That region is a preferred one for convergence of the wind–driven or Ekman circulation which leads to subduction, the process by which mixed layer water is injected into the main thermocline.
Industry:Earth science
An experiment to measure ocean surface waves with a high frequency radar that took place from Sept. 10, 1979 to Oct. 15, 1979. MARSEN was originally a ground truth campaign to provide and calibration and validation of SEASAT’s microwave instruments, although that focus was somewhat relaxed when SEASAT failed after gathering data for only 90 days. MARSEN included a collection of studies on wave dynamics, air–sea fluxes, and remote sensing via aircraft and ground–based systems, and was carried out in the North Sea. Key results included that drag coefficients depended on sea state and wave age, and that shallow water waves produce higher drag than deep water waves.
Industry:Earth science
An experiment whose objectives were to study the hydrography and circulation of the Iceland Basin and to study the temporal and spatial variability of the flows across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge. The ship observations in support of NANSEN were collected from 1986 to 1989. It consisted of a series of loosely connected research cruises conducted by different nations and laboratories in the area of interest, with the planning and execution of the program also seen as a pre–WOCE phase in the eastern North Atlantic. The main topics addressed by NANSEN were:
the origin and characteristics of the upper ocean water masses feeding the Norwegian Sea;
the characteristics and fate of the outflowing cold water in the North Atlantic; and
pathways and variations of the inflows and outflows.
Industry:Earth science
An exploratory experiment to observe spiciness in the upper ocean, including the mixed layer, at horizontal scales of 10 m to 1000 km. The objectives of the Spice Experiment are:
to quantify the density ratio in the mixed layer and seasonal thermocline;
to find if salinity varies on shorter horizontal scales than temperature;
to confirm that there is more spiciness in the mixed layer than in the seasonal thermocline; and
to find where and over what length scales the reduction in spiciness occurs. The data for the experiment were taken from a cruise in the eastern North Pacific between 25 and 35deg N from Jan. 24 to Feb. 20, 1997. Measurements were made using a SeaSoar equipped with a CTD and a fluorometer.
Industry:Earth science
An extension of the concept of a T-S diagram to display the distribution of temperature and salinity in the world ocean waters in proportion to their total volume. This is created by dividing a T-S diagram into a grid of squares with each square containing a number indicating the volume of water whose properties lie within it. A 3-D graphic of the results can also be created by replacing each number with a proportionally long vertical bar.
Industry:Earth science
An extension of the T-S diagram concept to include information about the temporal evolution of the properties of ocean waters in specific areas. It is created by plotting, on a standard T-S diagram, the temperature and salinity of a given area at regular time intervals (say, monthly or quarterly values).
Industry:Earth science
An extension of the Tsushima Current that flows northward from the Japan Sea into the Okhotsk Sea via the Soya Strait. It is a fairly rapid curent with velocities reaching 1 m/s and traveles close to the coast with the character of a boundary current.
Industry:Earth science
An ICES expedition whose core period of observation was between August 15 and September 15 in 1973. The principal objective of this experiment was to describe in detail the kinematic and dynamical processes which lead to the renewal of the sub–Arctic bottom water of the northern North Atlantic across the Iceland–Faeroe Ridge and the Denmark Strait. This experiment, a follow–up to OVERFLOW ’60, consisted of over 1700 hydrographic stations and 52 current meter moorings as well as numerous XBTs, tide measurements and drogue tracking. The chief scientist was J. Meincke of the University of Hamburg.
Industry:Earth science
An ICES experiment carried out from spring 1990 to spring 1991 in the Skagerrak. The main stage lasted four weeks with shorter and less intensive stages occurring at other times. The objectives of the experiment were to identify and quantify the various water masses entering and leaving the Skaggerak area and their variation over time, to investigate the mechanisms that drive the circulation in the area and its link with biological processes, and to investigate the pathways of contaminants through the Skagerrak. The project leader was B. Dybern.
Industry:Earth science
