PRINCIPAL 



INVESTIGATOR(S) Georges L. Weatherly 



Florida State University 



Department of Oceanography, B-169 



Tallahassee, FL 32306 



PROJECT TITLE NUMERICAL STUDIES OF BOTTOM BOUNDARY LAYER 



PROCESSES ALONG THE CONTINENTAL MARGIN 



AMOUNT OF FUNDING FY 1994: $80 K 



SUMMARY OF GOALS 



(1) To study the role of the bottom boundary layer (BBL) on the continental margin in exporting 

 water (contaminants) from the shelf into the ocean interior. 



(2) To measure ocean currents in the OMP area to further our understanding of the water mass 

 budgets and their temporal variability in the region. 



SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SAMPLING SCALES 



(The following only considers the observational component of what I would like to do.) 



The current observations would be a component of the OMP current meter efforts. A 

 tighter, more coherent moored array than that presented at the OMP meeting at BNL last fall, 

 would seem more appropriate for estimating water mass budgets. Thus I am biased towards the 

 L. Pietrafesa type of mooring distribution. I propose contributing about 20 current meters and 

 associated equipment (releases, floats, radio and light beacons, ...); my particular interest would 

 be on the flow seaward of the shelf break. Depending on the moorings, the meters would be left 

 for about 3 months (shallower moorings where fouling is a problem) to about a year (deeper 

 moorings). Such sampling should be sufficient to resolve seasonal variability, particularly winter 

 and summer conditions. 



I would like also to deploy two BBL profilers seaward of the shelf break as part of the 

 current meter work described above. Each profiler consists of two current meters, one in and the 

 other above the BBL with supplemental speed sensors interspersed. The intent of the BBL 

 profilers would be to see if the BBL seaward of the shelf break is indeed quite different from the 

 classical Ekman layer as proposed by MacCready and Rhines, 1993, J. Phys. Oceanogr.,21, 

 1186-1201) and as predicted by our numerical model. 



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