Ice Station Weddell Turbulence and Mixed Layer Data Analysis and Modeling

9316449 Martinson This project is the analysis of the data set obtained as part of an integrated research program into the oceanographic structure of the western Weddell Sea. The field work was carried out from an ice camp jointly occupied by U.S. and Russian scientists from February to June 1992. The data set obtained by the principal investigator had as its objective the definition of the vertical and horizontal thermohaline fluxes within the western part of the Weddell Gyre. Specifically, instrument clusters capable of measuring the Reynolds stress and the turbulent heat flux directly were suspended from the ice at the camp and maintained throughout the duration of the drift. Also, a remote buoy to measure upper ocean temperature, salinity, and current structure was emplaced to make observations on the larger scale variability within which the turbulence data is embedded, and which is expected to have some effect on the turbulence intensity. The analysis program will be carried out in conjunction with those of other concurrent experiments to quantify the energy brought to the underside of the ice, working toward the general goal of tracing the flux of energy from the ocean through the sea ice cover to the atmosphere. ***