Lateral Coherence and Mixing in the Coastal Ocean: Adaptive Sampling using Gliders

Abstract

Abstract : Lateral mixing is driven through the interplay between finescale isopycnal stirring (shear + strain) and small-scale diapycnal turbulence. We seek to understand this interplay within highly anisotropic coherent structures, such as fronts, jets, eddies and filaments, which likely control lateral dispersion in both coastal and open ocean. These structures evolve yet are often persistent on O (3 day) timescales, so are ideally suited to be adaptively sampled by autonomous gliders that actively report both turbulent and finescale statistics.