Faroe Bank Channel Overflow: Dynamics and Mixing, 2013

The aim of this project was to investigate the mixing and entrainment of the dense oceanic overflow from the Faroe Bank Channel. A large part of the deep, cold waters in the Nordic Seas flow out through the Faroe Bank Channel and into the North Atlantic as a subsea flow. These currents flow over the thresholds between the Nordic Seas and The North Atlantic and mix with the surrounding water masses, and become an important part of the global ocean circulation and the climate. Since there is a lack of observations and we don't quite understand how the water masses mix, these processes are poorly represented in climate models. The mixing happens at a small scale (0,1-1 m), but are dependent on processes on a larger scale (10 m - 100 km). The connection between what happens at a small and large scale is of great importance, and requires dedicated and complex observation systems as well as process based observations. Expertise and new instrumentation were united in this project to meet these requirements. The goal was, based on observations, to improve the knowledge about the dynamics and mixing in dense deep ocean currents, with a special focus on the Faroe Bank Channel. Detailed measurements of the movements were gathered, from a large scale to the smaller scales where the energy “died out”. The observations were collected from ships and gliders, and from instrumented rigs deployed in the ocean over a whole year. The data set from these rigs are unique in the way that they for the first time provide us with measurements over a cross section that covers width and height of the whole outflow area. This made it possible to make a heat budget over the outflow area, which in turn produced time series of vertical mixing, volume transport and heat content. Data is available for downloading at www.pangaea.de.

For further information regarding "Faroe Bank Channel Overflow: Dynamics and Mixing, 2013", please contact the primary investigator.

本项目旨在研究法罗群岛海槛通道（Faroe Bank Channel）高密度海洋溢流的混合与卷吸过程。北欧海的大部分深层冷水通过法罗群岛海槛通道流出，以海底流的形式进入北大西洋。这些海流越过北欧海与北大西洋之间的海槛，与周围水体混合，成为全球海洋环流和气候系统的重要组成部分。由于观测数据匮乏且对水体混合机制的理解尚不充分，这些过程在气候模型中的表征效果不佳。混合过程发生在小尺度范围（0.1-1米），但受大尺度过程（10米至100公里）的调控。小尺度与大尺度过程之间的关联至关重要，需要专门且复杂的观测系统以及基于过程的观测手段。本项目整合了专业知识与新型观测设备，以满足这些需求。项目目标是基于观测数据，提升对高密度深层海流动力学与混合过程的认知，重点关注法罗群岛海槛通道区域。项目收集了从大尺度到能量“耗散”的小尺度范围内的详细运动观测数据。观测数据来源于船舶、水下滑翔机，以及在海洋中部署长达一年的仪器平台。这些仪器平台获取的数据集具有独特性，因为它们首次提供了覆盖整个溢流区域宽度与高度的断面观测数据。这使得构建溢流区域的热量平衡成为可能，进而生成了垂直混合、体积输运和热含量的时间序列数据。数据可通过www.pangaea.de下载。
如需获取关于"Faroe Bank Channel Overflow: Dynamics and Mixing, 2013"的更多信息，请联系项目首席研究员。