3 research outputs found
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Anomalous Near-Surface Low-Salinity Pulses off the Central Oregon Coast
From mid-May to August 2011, extreme runoff in the Columbia River ranged from 14,000 to over 17,000 m³/s, more than two standard deviations above the mean for this period. The extreme runoff was the direct result of both melting of anomalously high snowpack and rainfall associated with the 2010–2011 La Niña. The effects of this increased freshwater discharge were observed off Newport, Oregon, 180 km south of the Columbia River mouth. Salinity values as low as 22, nine standard deviations below the climatological value for this period, were registered at the mid-shelf. Using a network of ocean observing sensors and platforms, it was possible to capture the onshore advection of the Columbia River plume from the mid-shelf, 20 km offshore, to the coast and eventually into Yaquina Bay (Newport) during a sustained wind reversal event. Increased freshwater delivery can influence coastal ocean ecosystems and delivery of offshore, river-influenced water may influence estuarine biogeochemistry.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by Nature Publishing Group. The published article can be found at: www.nature.com/articles/srep1714
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Microstructure Measurements from a Towed Undulating Platform
 MicroSoar, an undulating profiler capable of measuring turbulence parameters such as Thorpe scales and thermal dissipation rate while being towed at speeds of up to 4 m s^sup -1^, offers the possibility of obtaining a close-to-synoptic image of mixing over large spatial areas. In this paper, the method of calculating Thorpe scales from the high-frequency MicroSoar data is developed, and results from data taken off the coast of Oregon during the summer of 2001 are presented. Large Thorpe scales and elevated measurements of the thermal dissipation rate are shown to be associated with shear at the edge of the coastal jet. It is further shown that using MicroSoar data rather than Sea-Bird conductivity-temperature-depth data extends the range of measurable overturns to smaller scales, particularly in regions of low stratification. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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SeaSoar observations during the Coastal Ocean Advances in Shelf Transport (COAST) mesoscale survey I : R/V Wecoma cruise from 23 May to 13 June 2001
As part of the Coastal Ocean Processes (CoOP) project Coastal Ocean Advances in Shelf
Transport (COAST), this was the first of two cruises in 2001 to study cross-shelf transport
processes in a wind-driven coastal ocean. The project includes field experiments off the Oregon
coast and coordinated ocean circulation/ecosystem and atmospheric modeling. We made intensive
observations primarily to the north of Newport, Oregon, in a region of relatively simple
topography. We also sampled in an area to the south of Newport, centered on Heceta Bank (Figure
1).
A variety of instruments were used: a towed, undulating vehicle (SeaSoar) to measure
temperature, salinity, microstructure (MicroSoar) and phytoplankton fluorescence; a shipboard
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) to measure water velocity; a towed, four-frequency
bioacoustics unit (HTI) to detect large zooplankton and larval fish; a multiple net system
(MOCNESS) to obtain zooplankton samples; and a surface sampler to obtain clean seawater for
determination of its iron content. We worked in close coordination with the R/V Thomas G.
Thompson, aboard which other COAST scientists conducted vertical profiling.
We towed SeaSoar and the HTI bioacoustics instrument on a grid of east-west sections
ranging from 43.75 to 45.25N and from about the 45-m isobath to 60-100 km offshore (Figure 1).
This "big box" grid was occupied five times during the cruise, interspersed with three finer scale
SeaSoar/ADCP/HTI mapping surveys near the moorings on line 2 (the Cascade Head or "CH" line)
and one finer scale mapping centered on line 6 (the Cape Perpetua or "CP" line). Additionally, we
had seven repeat sections in a butterfly pattern, centered on the CH line. The R/V Thomas G.
Thompson concentrated their sampling along the CH and CP lines