RITASRITAS

Rhode Island Teacher at Rhode Island Teacher at Sea:Sea:

I’m Going on a Cruise!I’m Going on a Cruise!

What’s going on??What’s going on??

• I’m leaving tomorrow I’m leaving tomorrow morning – at about 8:00 morning – at about 8:00 am from the Graduate am from the Graduate School of Oceanography School of Oceanography in Narragansett. I’ll in Narragansett. I’ll be on the boat through be on the boat through next Wednesday (and back next Wednesday (and back here Thursday).here Thursday).• I’ll be traveling on I’ll be traveling on board the Research board the Research Vessel (RV) Endeavor. Vessel (RV) Endeavor. The The R/V EndeavorR/V Endeavor is a is a 185-foot, general-185-foot, general-purpose oceanographic purpose oceanographic research ship home-research ship home-ported in ported in Narragansett, RI and Narragansett, RI and operated by URI/GSO. operated by URI/GSO.

“Cross-frontal Exchange at the Shelfbreak Front South of Rhode Island:A Preliminary Study”Dave Hebert, Mark Prater and David UllmanGraduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island

•“Working with GSOs Office of Marine Programs (OMP) we plan to recruit teachers interested in bringing ocean science into their classrooms. The teachers would participate in the cruise to learn firsthand about oceanographic techniques as well as the science questions underlying this work.”

(“Cross-frontal Exchange at the Shelfbreak Front South of Rhode Island:A Preliminary Study”Dave Hebert, Mark Prater and David UllmanGraduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island)• “… “… A third component of the proposed NSF field program would consist of a series of 4-day deployments of isopycnal COOL floats, measuring diapycnal vertical velocities (i.e. diapycnal mixing),temperature and pressure every 20–30 seconds. These floats, serving as a Lagrangian water parcel markers, would be tracked aboard the ship while at the same time, towed observations of hydrography and turbulence microstructure will be carried out in the vicinity of the floats. The combination of Lagrangian trajectories and Eulerian sampling of the background hydrographic and turbulent mixing fields will provide details of the interplay of eddydriven advection and turbulent mixing in producing cross-frontal exchange of fluid….”

Inferred Secondary CirculationPickart, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 20, 2668-2686 (2000)

Cross-frontal and vertical velocity inferred from shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler data and conservation of volume

Region of weaker vertical stratification has smaller isopycnal gradients in temperature.

Slide from Dave Hebert

Tools we will use:Tools we will use:

• http://www.dosits.org/gallery/tech/ooct/rhttp://www.dosits.org/gallery/tech/ooct/rafos1.htmafos1.htm

• http://www.whoi.edu/instruments/viewInstrhttp://www.whoi.edu/instruments/viewInstrument.do?id=1061ument.do?id=1061

(slide courtesy of Dave Hebert)

The COastal Ocean Lagrangian (COOL) Float Vanes rotate float when there is a vertical (diapycnal) flow it.

Acoustically-tracked from the ship - 12 kHz pinger (black ring at bottom of float) transmits every 8 s.

Use of a `compressee’ makes the float isopycnal — follows constant density surfaces

So…So…

• I’ll see you again next Thursday!I’ll see you again next Thursday!

• Follow my trip by going to this link:Follow my trip by going to this link:

• http://techserv.gso.uri.edu/EndeavorNowhttp://techserv.gso.uri.edu/EndeavorNow.asp.asp

What would you like to know? I’ll have What would you like to know? I’ll have limited email access – I’ll check my limited email access – I’ll check my yahoo account (yahoo account (mrswoodswhs@yahoo.commrswoodswhs@yahoo.com) ) whenever possible.whenever possible.