High-frequency internal waves and thick bottom mixed layers observed by gliders in the Gulf Stream

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 44 (2017): 6316–6325, doi:10.1002/2017GL072580.Autonomous underwater gliders are conducting high-resolution surveys within the Gulf Stream along the U.S. East Coast. Glider surveys reveal two mechanisms by which energy is extracted from the Gulf Stream as it flows over the Blake Plateau, a portion of the outer continental shelf between Florida and North Carolina where bottom depths are less than 1000 m. Internal waves with vertical velocities exceeding 0.1 m s−1 and frequencies just below the local buoyancy frequency are routinely found over the Blake Plateau, particularly near the Charleston Bump, a prominent topographic feature. These waves are likely internal lee waves generated by the subinertial Gulf Stream flow over the irregular bathymetry of the outer continental shelf. Bottom mixed layers with O(100) m thickness are also frequently encountered; these thick bottom mixed layers likely form in the lee of topography due to enhanced turbulence generated by O(1) m s−1 near-bottom flows.National Science Foundation Grant Numbers: OCE-0220769, OCE-1633911; Office of Naval Research Grant Number: N000141713040; NOAA's Climate Observation Division Grant Number: NA14OAR43201582017-12-2

Equatorial circulation in the western Indian Ocean during onset of the 2018 summer monsoon and links to the Bay of Bengal

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 47(10), (2020): e2020GL087215, doi:10.1029/2020GL087215.Cross‐equator transects occupied by an underwater glider and a research vessel in the western Indian Ocean captured the evolution of equatorial circulation during onset of the boreal summer monsoon in 2018. At the end of the winter monsoon in March, surface currents were westward, while the equatorial undercurrent carried salty Arabian Sea High‐Salinity Water eastward. As winds transitioned from westward to eastward during April, an eastward near‐surface Wyrtki Jet developed, while the equatorial undercurrent weakened, vanishing by May. A first‐mode baroclinic Kelvin wave propagated through the survey region after westward winds relaxed. However, the vertical structure of the evolving circulation was inconsistent with the first baroclinic mode, suggesting the influence of higher modes in setting observed vertical structure. The strong equatorial undercurrent at the end of the winter monsoon allowed high‐salinity waters from the western equatorial Indian Ocean to reach the southern Bay of Bengal in summer 2018.This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research as part of the NASCar DRI under Grant N000141512632 and as part of the MISO‐BOB DRI under Grant N000141712968

Export of middle Atlantic Bight Shelf waters near Cape Hatteras from two years of underwater glider observations

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans 125(4), (2020): e2019JC016006, doi:10.1029/2019JC016006.Equatorward flow of Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) shelf waters meets poleward flowing South Atlantic Bight shelf waters over the continental shelf near Cape Hatteras, NC, leading to net export of shelf waters into the deep ocean. This export occurs in close proximity to the Gulf Stream, which separates from the continental margin near Cape Hatteras. Observations from sustained underwater glider surveys of the outer continental shelf and slope north of Cape Hatteras from spring 2017 to spring 2019 are used to examine the mean and variability of MAB shelf water export in the region. The 0.3 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3 s−1) time‐mean export of MAB shelf water south of 37°N was dominated by discrete export events; 50% of export occurred during the 17% of the time during which transport was more than 1 standard deviation above the mean. These events typically occurred in late spring and summer of both years when equatorward flow into the region peaked. Export of MAB shelf water was correlated with equatorward flow into the region, which was itself correlated with the density gradient across the continental shelf break. Observations during specific time periods that capture extrema in MAB shelf water export are examined to highlight the variability in shelf‐deep ocean exchange scenarios in the Hatteras region. These include near‐surface export driven by hurricanes, subsurface export below the northern edge of the Gulf Stream, and a multi‐month near‐cessation of export.Patrick Deane at WHOI and the Instrument Development Group at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography were key to the success of the Spray glider operations. Mike Muglia, Trip Taylor, and Nick DeSimone at the East Carolina University Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) provided support for glider deployments and recoveries. WHOI Summer Student Fellow Devon Gaynes assisted with analysis related to 2017 hurricanes. Spray glider observations used here are available from http://spraydata.ucsd.edu and should be cited using the following DOIs: 10.21238/S8SPRAY2675 (Todd & Owens, 2016) and 10.21238/S8SPRAY0880 (Todd, 2020). Buoy winds are available from the National Data Buoy Center (https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov). SST imagery was obtained from the Mid‐Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS) THREDDS server (http://tds.maracoos.org/thredds/ARCHIVE-SST.html). Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast System data are available online (https://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/). PEACH was funded by the National Science Foundation (OCE‐1558521). Colormaps are from Thyng et al. (2016).2020-09-1

The V471 Tauri System: A Multi-datatype Probe

V471 Tauri, a white dwarf--red dwarf eclipsing binary in the Hyades, is well known for stimulating development of common envelope theory, whereby novae and other cataclysmic variables form from much wider binaries by catastrophic orbit shrinkage. Our evaluation of a recent imaging search that reported negative results for a much postulated third body shows that the object could have escaped detection or may have actually been seen. The balance of evidence continues to favor a brown dwarf companion about 12 AU from the eclipsing binary. A recently developed algorithm finds unified solutions from three datatypes. New radial velocities (RVs) of the red dwarf and BV RCIC light curves are solved simultaneously along with white dwarf and red dwarf RVs from the literature, uvby data, the MOST mission light curve, and 40 years of eclipse timings. Precision-based weighting is the key to proper information balance among the various datasets. Timewise variation of modeled starspots allows unified solution of multiple data eras. Light curve amplitudes strongly suggest decreasing spottedness from 1976 to about 1980, followed by approximately constant spot coverage from 1981 to 2005. An explanation is proposed for lack of noticeable variation in 1981 light curves, in terms of competition between spot and tidal variations. Photometric spectroscopic distance is estimated. The red dwarf mass comes out larger than normal for a K2V star, and even larger than adopted in several structure and evolution papers. An identified cause for this result is that much improved red dwarf RVs curves now exist

Along-stream evolution of Gulf Stream volume transport

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 50(8), (2020): 2251-2270, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-19-0303.1.The Gulf Stream affects global climate by transporting water and heat poleward. The current’s volume transport increases markedly along the U.S. East Coast. An extensive observing program using autonomous underwater gliders provides finescale, subsurface observations of hydrography and velocity spanning more than 15° of latitude along the path of the Gulf Stream, thereby filling a 1500-km-long gap between long-term transport measurements in the Florida Strait and downstream of Cape Hatteras. Here, the glider-based observations are combined with shipboard measurements along Line W near 68°W to provide a detailed picture of the along-stream transport increase. To account for the influences of Gulf Stream curvature and adjacent circulation (e.g., corotating eddies) on transport estimates, upper- and lower-bound transports are constructed for each cross–Gulf Stream transect. The upper-bound estimate for time-averaged volume transport above 1000 m is 32.9 ± 1.2 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) in the Florida Strait, 57.3 ± 1.9 Sv at Cape Hatteras, and 75.6 ± 4.7 Sv at Line W. Corresponding lower-bound estimates are 32.3 ± 1.1 Sv in the Florida Strait, 54.5 ± 1.7 Sv at Cape Hatteras, and 69.9 ± 4.2 Sv at Line W. Using the temperature and salinity observations from gliders and Line W, waters are divided into seven classes to investigate the properties of waters that are transported by and entrained into the Gulf Stream. Most of the increase in overall Gulf Stream volume transport above 1000 m stems from the entrainment of subthermocline waters, including upper Labrador Sea Water and Eighteen Degree Water.We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Office of Naval Research (N000141713040), the National Science Foundation (OCE-0220769, OCE-1633911, OCE-1923362), NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program (NA14OAR4320158, NA19OAR4320074), WHOI’s Oceans and Climate Change Institute, Eastman Chemical Company, and the W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Chair for Excellence in Oceanography at WHOI (awarded to Breck Owens)

Underwater glider observations and the representation of western boundary currents in numerical models

Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 30, no. 2 (2017): 88–89, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2017.225.Western boundary currents are important oceanic components of Earth’s climate system. In the subtropics, the Gulf Stream, Kuroshio, East Australian Current, Agulhas Current, and Brazil Current contribute to poleward heat transport. Low-latitude western boundary currents, such as the Somali Current, Mindanao Current, and New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent, are key connections between the subtropical gyres and equatorial current systems. Western boundary currents are generally narrow (O(100) km wide) with strong currents (O(1) m s–1) and large property gradients, making them a challenge to both observe and simulate.Funding for Spray glider operations in the Gulf Stream has been provided by the National Science Foundation (OCE-0220769,OCE-1633911), the Office of Naval Research (N000141713040), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Observation Division (NA14OAR4320158), Eastman Chemical Company, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Oceans and Climate Change Institute, and the W. Van Alan Clark Jr. Chair for Excellence in Oceanography at WHOI (awarded to Breck Owens)

Fluorescence and Chromospheric Activity of V471 Tau

The red dwarf + white dwarf eclipsing binary V471 Tau shows a variable Hα feature that varies from absorption during eclipse to maximum emission during white dwarf transit. In 1998 we obtained simultaneous BVRI photometry and Hα spectroscopy, with thorough phase coverage of the 12.5 hour orbital period. A binary star model was used with our light curve, radial velocity, and Hα data to refine stellar and orbital parameters. Combined absorption-emission profiles were generated by the model and fit to the observations, yielding a red star radius of 0.94⊙. Orbital inclination 78° is required with this size and other known parameters. The model includes three spots 1,000 K cooler than the surrounding photosphere. The variable Hα profile was modeled as a chromospheric region (essentially on the surface of the red star) centered at the substellar point. Additional emission seen outside our modeled profiles may be large co-rotating prominences that complicate the picture

Potential vorticity structure in the North Atlantic western boundary current from underwater glider observations

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2016. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 46 (2016): 327–348, doi:10.1175/JPO-D-15-0112.1.Potential vorticity structure in two segments of the North Atlantic’s western boundary current is examined using concurrent, high-resolution measurements of hydrography and velocity from gliders. Spray gliders occupied 40 transects across the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico and 11 transects across the Gulf Stream downstream of Cape Hatteras. Cross-stream distributions of the Ertel potential vorticity and its components are calculated for each transect under the assumptions that all flow is in the direction of measured vertically averaged currents and that the flow is geostrophic. Mean cross-stream distributions of hydrographic properties, potential vorticity, and alongstream velocity are calculated for both the Loop Current and the detached Gulf Stream in both depth and density coordinates. Differences between these mean transects highlight the downstream changes in western boundary current structure. As the current increases its transport downstream, upper-layer potential vorticity is generally reduced because of the combined effects of increased anticyclonic relative vorticity, reduced stratification, and increased cross-stream density gradients. The only exception is within the 20-km-wide cyclonic flank of the Gulf Stream, where intense cyclonic relative vorticity results in more positive potential vorticity than in the Loop Current. Cross-stream gradients of mean potential vorticity satisfy necessary conditions for both barotropic and baroclinic instability within the western boundary current. Instances of very low or negative potential vorticity, which predispose the flow to various overturning instabilities, are observed in individual transects across both the Loop Current and the Gulf Stream.Glider operations in the Gulf Stream were supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant OCE-0220769. Glider operations in the Gulf of Mexico were supported by BP. R.E.T. was supported by the Penzance Endowed Fund in Support of Assistant Scientists and the Independent Research and Development Program at WHOI.2016-07-0

Trends in Characteristics of Yellowstone Lake Cutthroat Trout, Associated Factors, and Evidence of a Population Shift

Comprehensive time-series data for Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkia bouvieri; YCT) based on samples taken between 1977 and 2007 from the spawning run (spring; n = 29 yrs) of a tributary (Clear Creek) of Yellowstone Lake or caught in gill nets set (fall; n = 30 years) at established locations in the lake were examined to identify (1) associations between population characteristics within and between capture methods, as well as temporal trends in those characteristics, (2) evidence of informative shifts in population characteristics, and (3) factors that may have importantly affected the dynamics of the lacustrine-adfluvial YCT population of the tributary. Temporal increases in mean TL of YCT in the spawning run and of prespawners, i.e., YCT whose gonads indicated the fish would have spawned the next year, in the gillnet catch and concurrent declines in run size and prespawner catch were suggestive of an effect of YCT population density on the somatic growth of the fish. Similarly, a concurrent increase in mean TL of gillnetted YCT 100-199 mm long was indicated by the polynomial regression results, which also suggested statistical change points in the temporal trends for each of those variables. Contrasting those trends was that for mean TL of gillnetted YCT 200-299 mm long, whose general decline during the past two decades was attributed to predation by nonnative lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush). Collectively, these trends provided evidence of a YCT population shift. Correlation results indicated YCT in the spawning run could not be unequivocally assigned to any particular lake region. Multiple regression analyses showed that Clear Creek run size was strongly affected by parental run size 5 yrs earlier and a measure of climate 5 yrs earlier