Underwater gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles that profile vertically by changing their buoyancy and use wings to move horizontally. Gliders are useful for sustained observation at relatively ...fine horizontal scales, especially to connect the coastal and open ocean. In this review, research topics are grouped by time and length scales. Large-scale topics addressed include the eastern and western boundary currents and the regional effects of climate variability. The accessibility of horizontal length scales of order 1 km allows investigation of mesoscale and submesoscale features such as fronts and eddies. Because the submesoscales dominate vertical fluxes in the ocean, gliders have found application in studies of biogeochemical processes. At the finest scales, gliders have been used to measure internal waves and turbulent dissipation. The review summarizes gliders' achievements to date and assesses their future in ocean observation.
Large‐scale patterns of positive temperature anomalies persisted throughout the surface waters of the North Pacific Ocean during 2014–2015. In the Southern California Current System, measurements by ...our sustained network of underwater gliders reveal the coastal effects of the recent warming. Regional upper ocean temperature anomalies were greatest since the initiation of the glider network in 2006. Additional observed physical anomalies included a depressed thermocline, high stratification, and freshening; induced biological consequences included changes in the vertical distribution of chlorophyll fluorescence. Contemporaneous surface heat flux and wind strength perturbations suggest that local anomalous atmospheric forcing caused the unusual oceanic conditions.
Key Points
Anomalous surface‐intensified warming in the Southern California Current System during 2014–2015
Depressed thermocline, high stratification, freshening, and deepening of chl a fluorescence maximum
Local anomalous atmospheric forcing caused the unusual oceanic conditions
The 2015–2016 El Niño is by some measures one of the strongest on record, comparable to the 1982–1983 and 1997–1998 events that triggered widespread ecosystem change in the northeast Pacific. Here we ...describe impacts of the 2015–2016 El Niño on the California Current System (CCS) and place them in historical context using a regional ocean model and underwater glider observations. Impacts on the physical state of the CCS are weaker than expected based on tropical sea surface temperature anomalies; temperature and density fields reflect persistence of multiyear anomalies more than El Niño. While we anticipate El Niño‐related impacts on spring/summer 2016 productivity to be similarly weak, their combination with preexisting anomalous conditions likely means continued low phytoplankton biomass. This study highlights the need for regional metrics of El Niño's effects and demonstrates the potential to assess these effects before the upwelling season, when altered ecosystem functioning is most apparent.
Key Points
Impacts of the 2015‐2016 El Nino on the California Current System's physical state are evaluated using model, satellite, and glider data
Local temperature and density anomalies are much weaker than expected based on tropical sea surface temperature anomalies
Relatively weak El Nino imprint occurs on backdrop of large multiyear anomalies that may continue to dominate the biological response
The analysis revisits the calculation of the empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) and principal components (PCs) of sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific from 1950 to 2021. The first ...EOF and PC of SST has proven to be such a useful metric of variability in the North Pacific that it is called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). We find that the period of persistent marine heatwaves beginning in 2014 caused a fundamental change to the first EOF and PC of SST (calculated using data from 1950 to 2021) as compared to the established PDO spatial pattern (calculated using data from 1950 to 1993). The second EOF of SST has also changed during this period, both in spatial pattern and in the amount of variance explained. A conclusion is that the PDO and other EOF based metrics may not be as useful in the future as climate continues to change.
Plain Language Summary
The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) is a widely used measure of the temperature variability in the North Pacific Ocean. The PDO is the result of a well‐known technique called empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis that isolates the most energetic modes of variability of the analyzed variable. The first time EOF analysis was applied to oceanographic data was in the 1970's when it was used to identify the most energetic modes of North Pacific sea surface temperature (SST). The first EOF of North Pacific SST has proved so useful as a measure that it received the moniker PDO. Our analysis suggests that a period of persistent marine heatwaves in the North Pacific since 2014 has been so powerful that this first mode of variability of SST has fundamentally changed and the PDO may not be as useful an indicator as it once was.
Key Points
The calculation of empirical orthogonal functions and principal components of North Pacific sea surface temperature is revisited
The period of persistent marine heatwaves since 2014 has caused most energetic modes to change
A conclusion is that indices based on empirical orthogonal function analysis may not be as useful as climate continues to change
The sampling characteristics of an underwater glider are addressed through comparison with contemporaneous measurements from a ship survey using a towed vehicle. The comparison uses the underwater ...glider Spray and the towed vehicle SeaSoar north of Hawaii along 158°W between 22.75°N and 34.5°N. A Spray dive from the surface to 1000 m and back took 5.6 h and covered 5.3 km, resulting in a horizontal speed of 0.26 m s−1. SeaSoar undulated between the surface and 400 m, completing a cycle in 11 min while covering 2.6 km, for a speed of 3.9 m s−1. Adjacent profiles of temperature and salinity are compared between the two platforms to prove that each is accurate. Spray and SeaSoar data are compared through sections, isopycnal spatial series, and wave number spectra. The relative slowness of the glider results in the projection of high‐frequency oceanic variability, such as internal waves, onto spatial structure. The projection is caused by Doppler smearing because of finite speed and aliasing due to discrete sampling. The projected variability is apparent in properties measured on depth surfaces or in isopycnal depth. No projected variability is seen in observations of properties on constant density surfaces because internal waves are intrinsically filtered. Wave number spectra suggest that projected variability affects properties at constant depth at wavelengths shorter than 30 km. These results imply that isobaric quantities, like geostrophic shear, are valid at wavelengths longer than 30 km, while isopycnal quantities, like spice, may be analyzed for scales as small as a glider measures.
Key Points
Spray glider temperature and salinity data are proved accurate
Aliasing of properties at constant depth at wavelengths shorter than 30 km
Properties at constant density reliable to shortest resolved scale (∼10 km)
Abstract
The depth-average velocity is routinely calculated using data from underwater gliders. The calculation is a dead reckoning, where the difference between the glider’s velocity over ground and ...its velocity through water yields the water velocity averaged over the glider’s dive path. Given the accuracy of global positioning system navigation and the typical 3–6-h dive cycle, the accuracy of the depth-average velocity is overwhelmingly dependent on the accurate estimation of the glider’s velocity through water. The calculation of glider velocity through water for the Spray underwater glider is described. The accuracy of this calculation is addressed using a method similar to that used with shipboard acoustic Doppler current profilers, where water velocity is compared before and after turns to determine a gain to apply to glider velocity through water. Differences of this gain from an ideal value of one are used to evaluate accuracy. Sustained glider observations of several years off California and Palau consisted of missions involving repeated straight sections, producing hundreds of turns. The root-mean-square accuracy of depth-average velocity is estimated to be in the range of 0.01–0.02 m s
−1
, consistent with inferences from the early days of underwater glider design.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Subthermocline circulation in the tropical North Pacific Ocean (2°N–30°N) is investigated using profiling float temperature‐salinity data from the International Argo and the Origins of the Kuroshio ...and Mindanao Current (OKMC) projects. Three well‐defined eastward jets are detected beneath the wind‐driven, westward flowing North Equatorial Current. Dubbed the North Equatorial Undercurrent (NEUC) jets, these subthermocline jets have a typical core velocity of 2–5 cms−1 and are spatially coherent from the western boundary to about 120°W across the North Pacific basin. Centered around 9°N, 13°N, and 18°N in the western basin, the NEUC jet cores tend to migrate northward by ∼4° in the eastern basin. Vertically, the cores of the southern, central, and northern NEUC jets reside on the 26.9, 27.2, and 27.3 σθsurfaces, respectively, and they tend to shoal to lighter density surfaces, by about 0.2 σθ, as the jets progress eastward.
Key Points
Three, spatially-coherent, eastward flowing jets beneath westward-flowing NEC.NEUC jet cores tend to migrate northward when the jets progress eastward.Jets tend to shoal to lighter density surfaces, as they progress eastward.
Spray Underwater Glider Operations Rudnick, Daniel L; Davis, Russ E; Sherman, Jeffrey T
Journal of atmospheric and oceanic technology,
06/2016, Letnik:
33, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Operational statistics for the Spray underwater glider are presented to demonstrate capabilities for sustained observations. An underwater glider is an autonomous device that profiles vertically by ...changing buoyancy and flies horizontally on wings. The focus has been on sustained observations of boundary currents to take advantage of the glider's small size, which allows it to be deployed and recovered from small vessels close to land, and the fine horizontal resolution delivered by the glider, which is scientifically desirable in boundary regions. Since 2004, Spray underwater gliders have been deployed for over 28 000 days, traveling over 560 000 km, and delivering over 190 000 profiles. More than 10 gliders, on average, have been in the water since 2012. Statistics are given in the form of histograms for 297 completed glider missions of longer than 5 days. The statistics include mission duration, number of dives, distance over ground, and horizontal and vertical distance through water. A discussion of problems, losses, and short missions includes a survival analysis. The most extensive work was conducted in the California Current system, where observations on three across-shorelines have been sustained, with 97% coverage since 2009. While the authors have certain advantages as developers and builders of the Spray underwater glider and Spray may have design and construction advantages, they believe these statistics are a sound basis for optimism about the widespread future of gliders in oceanographic observing.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Circulation in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is dominated by the Loop Current (LC) and by Loop Current eddies (LCEs) that form at irregular multimonth intervals by separation from the LC. Comparatively ...small cyclonic eddies (CEs) are thought to have a controlling influence on the LCE, including its separation from the LC. Because the CEs are so dynamic and short-lived, lasting only a few weeks, they have proved a challenge to observe. This study addresses that challenge using underwater gliders. These gliders' data and satellite sea surface height (SSH) are used in a four-dimensional variational (4DVAR) assimilation in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) general circulation model (MITgcm). The model serves two purposes: first, the model's estimate of ocean state allows the analysis of four-dimensional fields, and second, the model forecasts are examined to determine the value of glider data. CEs have a Rossby number of about 0.2, implying that the effects of flow curvature, cyclostrophy, to modify the geostrophic momentum balance are slight. The velocity field in CEs is nearly depth independent, while LCEs are more baroclinic, consistent with the CEs origin on the less stratified, dense side of the LCE. CEs are formed from water in the GoM, rather than the Atlantic water that distinguishes the LCE. Model forecasts are improved by glider data, using a quality metric based on satellite SSH, with the best 2-month GoM forecast rivaling the accuracy of a global hindcast.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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