Beardsley Robert C.

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Beardsley

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Robert C.

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A high-resolution bathymetry map for the Marguerite Bay and adjacent west Antarctic Peninsula shelf for the Southern Ocean GLOBEC Program

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2004-05) Bolmer, S. Thompson ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Pudsey, C. ; Morris, P. ; Wiebe, Peter H. ; Hofmann, Eileen E. ; Anderson, John B. ; Maldonado, A.

One objective of the U.S. Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (SO GLOBEC) program is to gain a better understanding of the sea floor bathymetry in the program study area. Much of Marguerite Bay and the adjacent shelf west of the Antarctic Peninsula were poorly charted when the SO GLOBEC program started in 2000. Before the first SO GLOBEC cruise, an improved local area version (ETOPO8.2A) was created from the Smith and Sandwell (1997) topo_8.2.img 2-minute digital gridded bathymetry for the study area. The first SO GLOBEC mooring cruise on the R/V Lawrence M. Gould (March 2001) showed that the 2-minute spatial resolution of ETOPO8.2A did not resolve many of the canyons and abrupt changes in topography that characterize Marguerite Bay and the inner- to mid-shelf region. It also was not particularly accurate in the more uniform terrain regions. We then decided to collect as much multibeam bathymetry data as possible during the SO GLOBEC broad-scale survey cruises on the R/VIB Nathaniel B. Palmer and combine these data with all other available multibeam and trackline bathymetry data to construct a digital bathymetry database and map for the study area. The resulting database has high-resolution data over much of the shelf and parts of Marguerite Bay gridded at 2 seconds in latitude and 6 seconds in longitude spacing between 65° to 71° S and 65° to 78° W. This technical report describes the steps taken to assemble and construct this database and how to access the data via the Internet.
Process modeling studies of physical mechanisms of the formation of an anticyclonic eddy in the central Red Sea

(John Wiley & Sons, 2014-02-25) Chen, Changsheng ; Li, Ruixiang ; Pratt, Lawrence J. ; Limeburner, Richard ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Bower, Amy S. ; Jiang, Houshuo ; Abualnaja, Yasser ; Xu, Qichun ; Lin, Huichan ; Liu, Xuehai ; Lan, Jian ; Kim, Taewan

Surface drifters released in the central Red Sea during April 2010 detected a well-defined anticyclonic eddy around 23°N. This eddy was ∼45–60 km in radius, with a swirl speed up to ∼0.5 m/s. The eddy feature was also evident in monthly averaged sea surface height fields and in current profiles measured on a cross-isobath, shipboard CTD/ADCP survey around that region. The unstructured-grid, Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) was configured for the Red Sea and process studies were conducted to establish the conditions necessary for the eddy to form and to establish its robustness. The model was capable of reproducing the observed anticyclonic eddy with the same location and size. Diagnosis of model results suggests that the eddy can be formed in a Red Sea that is subject to seasonally varying buoyancy forcing, with no wind, but that its location and structure are significantly altered by wind forcing, initial distribution of water stratification and southward coastal flow from the upstream area. Momentum analysis indicates that the flow field of the eddy was in geostrophic balance, with the baroclinic pressure gradient forcing about the same order of magnitude as the surface pressure gradient forcing.
Zonal surface wind jets across the Red Sea due to mountain gap forcing along both sides of the Red Sea

(American Geophysical Union, 2009-10-10) Jiang, Houshuo ; Farrar, J. Thomas ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Chen, Ru ; Chen, Changsheng

Mesoscale atmospheric modeling over the Red Sea, validated by in-situ meteorological buoy data, identifies two types of coastal mountain gap wind jets that frequently blow across the longitudinal axis of the Red Sea: (1) an eastward-blowing summer daily wind jet originating from the Tokar Gap on the Sudanese Red Sea coast, and (2) wintertime westward-blowing wind-jet bands along the northwestern Saudi Arabian coast, which occur every 10–20 days and can last for several days when occurring. Both wind jets can attain wind speeds over 15 m s−1 and contribute significantly to monthly mean surface wind stress, especially in the cross-axis components, which could be of importance to ocean eddy formation in the Red Sea. The wintertime wind jets can cause significant evaporation and ocean heat loss along the northeastern Red Sea coast and may potentially drive deep convection in that region. An initial characterization of these wind jets is presented.
Using MM5 to hindcast the ocean surface forcing fields over the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank Region

(American Meteorological Society, 2005-02) Chen, Changsheng ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Hu, Song ; Xu, Qichun ; Lin, Huichan

The fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–NCAR Mesoscale Model (MM5) is applied to the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank (GoM/GB) region. This model is configured with two numerical domains with horizontal resolutions of 30 and 10 km, respectively, and driven by the NCAR-Eta weather model through a nested grid approach. Comparison of model-computed winds, wind stress, and heat flux with in situ data collected on moored meteorological buoys in the western GoM and over GB in 1995 shows that during the passage of atmospheric fronts over this region, MM5 provides a reasonable prediction of wind speed but not wind direction, and provides a relatively accurate estimation of longwave radiation but overestimates sensible and latent fluxes. The nudging data assimilation approach with inclusion of in situ wind data significantly improves the accuracy of the predicted wind speed and direction. Incorporation of the Fairall et al. air–sea flux algorithms with inclusion of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)-derived SST improves the accuracy of the predicted latent and sensible heat fluxes in the GoM/GB region for both stable and unstable weather conditions.
A dike–groyne algorithm in a terrain-following coordinate ocean model (FVCOM) : development, validation and application

( 2012-01) Ge, Jianzhong ; Chen, Changsheng ; Qi, Jianhua ; Ding, Pingxing ; Beardsley, Robert C.

A dike-groyne module is developed and implemented into the unstructured-grid, three dimensional primitive equation Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM) for the study of the hydrodynamics around human-made construction in the coastal area. The unstructured-grid finite-volume flux discrete algorithm makes this module capable of realistically including narrow-width dikes and groynes with free exchange in the upper column and solid blocking in the lower column in a terrain-following coordinate system. This algorithm used in the module is validated for idealized cases with emerged and/or submerged dikes and a coastal seawall where either analytical solutions or laboratory experiments are available for comparison. As an example, this module is applied to the Changjiang Estuary where a dike-groyne structure was constructed in the Deep Waterway channel in the inner shelf of the East China Sea (ECS). Driven by the same forcing under given initial and boundary conditions, a comparison was made for model-predicted flow and salinity via observations between dike-groyne and bed-conforming slope algorithms. The results show that with realistic resolution of water transport above and below the dike-groyne structures, the new method provides more accurate results. FVCOM with this MPI-architecture parallelized dike-groyne module provides a new tool for ocean engineering and inundation applications in coastal regions with dike, seawall and/or dam structures.
A vector-averaging wind recorder (VWAR) system for surface meteorological measurements in CODE (Coastal Ocean Dynamics Experiment)

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1988-05) Dean, Jerome P. ; Beardsley, Robert C.

As part of the Coastal Ocean Dynamics Experiment (CODE) field program, moored buoys were instrumented to measure and record wind speed and direction, air and water temperature, insolation, barometric pressure and relative humidity. Appropriate sensors were selected, necessary modifications to the sensors and existing current meters were made, and Vector Averaging Wind Recorders (VAWRs) were assembled. R. M. Young utility rotor and vane wind sets designed by G. Gill, Paroscientific Digiquartz pressure sensors, Eppley pyranometers and Hy-Cal relative humidity and solar sensors were used in two field experiments . Standard VACM direction and temperature sensors were maintained in the wind recorders. Devices were constructed as needed to protect against measurement errors due to wind, sun and ocean spray. Four W.H.O.I. VAWRs with Gill wind sensor sets were deployed CODE-1 in 1981. Seven VAWRs were deployed in CODE-2 in 1982. A modified VMCM (Vector Measuring Current Meter) was used for comparison in CODE-1, and the seventh VAWR deployed in CODE-2 carried an integral sensor set for comparison. Although several VAWRs had minor problems, all but one VAWR in the two experiments returned useful scientific data.
Hydrographic station data obtained in the East China Sea, August 1981

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1982-08) Limeburner, Richard ; Beardsley, Robert C.

A hydrographic survey was made on August 1-16, 1981 on the People's Republic of China R/V Shijian to measure the regional hydrographic structure in the East China Sea near the mouth of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River. The objectives of the hydrographic program were to document the spatial structure of the Chang Jiang discharge over the continental shelf and characterize the river's influence on the shelf water masses during a period of maximum river discharge. A summary of the hydrographic observations made during Cruise ECS81-1 on the R/V Shijian is presented in graphic form.
On the interpretation of energy and energy fluxes of nonlinear internal waves : an example from Massachusetts Bay

(Cambridge University Press, 2006-08-09) Scotti, Alberto ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Butman, Bradford

A self-consistent formalism to estimate baroclinic energy densities and fluxes resulting from the propagation of internal waves of arbitrary amplitude is derived using the concept of available potential energy. The method can be applied to numerical, laboratory or field data.
Reply to comment on “Current separation and upwelling over the southeast shelf of Vietnam in the South China Sea”

(John Wiley & Sons, 2013-03-31) Chen, Changsheng ; Lai, Zhigang ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Xu, Qichun ; Lin, Huichan ; Viet, Nguyen Trung ; Yang, Ding
Extratropical storm inundation testbed : intermodel comparisons in Scituate, Massachusetts

(John Wiley & Sons, 2013-10-07) Chen, Changsheng ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Luettich, Richard A. ; Westerink, Joannes J. ; Wang, Harry ; Perrie, Will ; Xu, Qichun ; Donahue, Aaron S. ; Qi, Jianhua ; Lin, Huichan ; Zhao, Liuzhi ; Kerr, Patrick C. ; Meng, Yanqiu ; Toulany, Bash

The Integrated Ocean Observing System Super-regional Coastal Modeling Testbed had one objective to evaluate the capabilities of three unstructured-grid fully current-wave coupled ocean models (ADCIRC/SWAN, FVCOM/SWAVE, SELFE/WWM) to simulate extratropical storm-induced inundation in the US northeast coastal region. Scituate Harbor (MA) was chosen as the extratropical storm testbed site, and model simulations were made for the 24–27 May 2005 and 17–20 April 2007 (“Patriot's Day Storm”) nor'easters. For the same unstructured mesh, meteorological forcing, and initial/boundary conditions, intermodel comparisons were made for tidal elevation, surface waves, sea surface elevation, coastal inundation, currents, and volume transport. All three models showed similar accuracy in tidal simulation and consistency in dynamic responses to storm winds in experiments conducted without and with wave-current interaction. The three models also showed that wave-current interaction could (1) change the current direction from the along-shelf direction to the onshore direction over the northern shelf, enlarging the onshore water transport and (2) intensify an anticyclonic eddy in the harbor entrance and a cyclonic eddy in the harbor interior, which could increase the water transport toward the northern peninsula and the southern end and thus enhance flooding in those areas. The testbed intermodel comparisons suggest that major differences in the performance of the three models were caused primarily by (1) the inclusion of wave-current interaction, due to the different discrete algorithms used to solve the three wave models and compute water-current interaction, (2) the criterions used for the wet-dry point treatment of the flooding/drying process simulation, and (3) bottom friction parameterizations.
FVCOM validation experiments : comparisons with ROMS for three idealized barotropic test problems

(American Geophysical Union, 2008-07-26) Huang, Haosheng ; Chen, Changsheng ; Cowles, Geoffrey W. ; Winant, Clinton D. ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Hedstrom, Kate S. ; Haidvogel, Dale B.

The unstructured-grid Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM) is evaluated using three idealized benchmark test problems: the Rossby equatorial soliton, the hydraulic jump, and the three-dimensional barotropic wind-driven basin. These test cases examine the properties of numerical dispersion and damping, the performance of the nonlinear advection scheme for supercritical flow conditions, and the accuracy of the implicit vertical viscosity scheme in barotropic settings, respectively. It is demonstrated that FVCOM provides overall a second-order spatial accuracy for the vertically averaged equations (i.e., external mode), and with increasing grid resolution the model-computed solutions show a fast convergence toward the analytic solutions regardless of the particular triangulation method. Examples are provided to illustrate the ability of FVCOM to facilitate local grid refinement and speed up computation. Comparisons are also made between FVCOM and the structured-grid Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) for these test cases. For the linear problem in a simple rectangular domain, i.e., the wind-driven basin case, the performance of the two models is quite similar. For the nonlinear case, such as the Rossby equatorial soliton, the second-order advection scheme used in FVCOM is almost as accurate as the fourth-order advection scheme implemented in ROMS if the horizontal resolution is relatively high. FVCOM has taken advantage of the new development in computational fluid dynamics in resolving flow problems containing discontinuities. One salient feature illustrated by the three-dimensional barotropic wind-driven basin case is that FVCOM and ROMS simulations show different responses to the refinement of grid size in the horizontal and in the vertical.
Saltwater intrusion into the Changjiang River : a model-guided mechanism study

(American Geophysical Union, 2009-02-12) Xue, Pengfei ; Chen, Changsheng ; Ding, Pingxing ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Lin, Huichan ; Ge, Jianzhong ; Kong, Yazhen

The Changjiang River (CR) is divided into a southern branch (SB) and a northern branche (NB) by Chongming Island as the river enters the East China Sea. Observations reveal that during the dry season the saltwater in the inner shelf of the East China Sea flows into the CR through the NB and forms an isolated mass of saltwater in the upstream area of the SB. The physical mechanism causing this saltwater intrusion has been studied using the high-resolution unstructured-grid Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM). The results suggest that the intrusion is caused by a complex nonlinear interaction process in relation to the freshwater flux upstream, tidal currents, mixing, wind, and the salt distribution in the inner shelf of the East China Sea. The tidal rectification, resulting from the interaction of the convergence or divergence of tidal momentum flux and bottom friction over abrupt topography, produces a net upstreamward volume flux from NB to SB. With river discharge the net water transport in the NB is driven through a momentum balance of surface elevation gradient forcing, horizontal advection, and vertical diffusion. In the dry season, reducing the surface elevation gradient forcing makes tidal rectification a key process favorable for the saltwater intrusion. A northerly wind tends to enhance the saltwater intrusion by reducing the seaward surface elevation gradient forcing rather than either the baroclinic pressure gradient forcing or the wind-driven Ekman transport. A convergence experiment suggests that high grid resolution (∼100 m or less) is required to correctly resolve the net water transport through the NB, particularly in the narrow channel on the northern coast of Chongming Island.
Shoaling of nonlinear internal waves in Massachusetts Bay

(American Geophysical Union, 2008-08-19) Scotti, Alberto ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Butman, Bradford ; Pineda, Jesus

The shoaling of the nonlinear internal tide in Massachusetts Bay is studied with a fully nonlinear and nonhydrostatic model. The results are compared with current and temperature observations obtained during the August 1998 Massachusetts Bay Internal Wave Experiment and observations from a shorter experiment which took place in September 2001. The model shows how the approaching nonlinear undular bore interacts strongly with a shoaling bottom, offshore of where KdV theory predicts polarity switching should occur. It is shown that the shoaling process is dominated by nonlinearity, and the model results are interpreted with the aid of a two-layer nonlinear but hydrostatic model. After interacting with the shoaling bottom, the undular bore emerges on the shallow shelf inshore of the 30-m isobath as a nonlinear internal tide with a range of possible shapes, all of which are found in the available observational record.
Effects of interannual environmental variability on the transport-retention dynamics in haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus larvae on Georges Bank

(Inter-Research, 2013-07-30) Boucher, Jason M. ; Chen, Changsheng ; Sun, Yunfang ; Beardsley, Robert C.

Georges Bank is a region of high biological productivity characterized by a well-defined clockwise tidal rectified circulation gyre. Fluctuations in the year-class strength of haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus on Georges Bank have been attributed to mortality during the highly vulnerable larval stages. While predation and starvation greatly impact on survival, advection to unfavorable regions may result in greatly reduced numbers of individuals. For successful self-recruitment to occur, individuals must remain within the shoal region of Georges Bank until settlement. An individual-based model (IBM) was utilized to estimate the retention of haddock eggs and larvae on Georges Bank annually for 1995 through 2009. The IBM was driven by the Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) for the Gulf of Maine domain. Biological components of haddock larvae were omitted to restrict analyses to the impact of circulation on passive transport. Inflow over the Scotian Shelf and tidal interaction patterns were identified as the major drivers of variability in interannual transport-retention dynamics. The simulations indicated that retention rates were highest in 2000 and 2003, and lowest in 1997. The above-average retention in 2000 and 2003 with anomalously large recruitment only in 2003 indicates that high retention appears to be necessary but not sufficient to explain large recruitment events of haddock on Georges Bank.
Observing system simulation experiments of dissolved oxygen monitoring in Massachusetts Bay

(American Geophysical Union, 2012-05-08) Xue, Pengfei ; Chen, Changsheng ; Beardsley, Robert C.

Observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) were performed in Massachusetts Bay for the design of optimal monitoring sites for dissolved oxygen (DO) measurements. Experiments were carried out using the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) for data assimilation with focus on initial and boundary perturbations. Running a well-validated water quality model with a perturbed initial field of DO but “true” boundary forcing conditions, the model is capable of restoring DO back to the true state without data assimilation over a recovery time scale of about a month. Since DO in Massachusetts Bay has a bay-wide correlation scale, placing a monitoring site of DO near the northern boundary or at a location that has maximum correlation to the entire domain can shorten the restoring time to a week. Running the model with perturbed boundary forcing without data assimilation, the results show that the errors propagate into Massachusetts Bay following the inflow from the northern boundary and spread southward to Cape Cod Bay over a time scale of about a month. Using a DO monitoring site located near the northern entrance, the data assimilation can efficiently control the error propagation and prevent the model field from deviating from the true state. The model shows that the inflow from the northern entrance, which is connected to the upstream Western Maine Coastal Current, plays an important role in controlling the DO variation in Massachusetts Bay, and the residence time of the bay controlled by this flow is about one month. Understanding the upstream boundary-control nature of this system is critical for optimal design of sampling strategies of water quality variables in this region.
CTD observations in the Great South Channel during the South Channel Ocean Productivity Experiment, SCOPEX, May-June 1989

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1989-11) Limeburner, Richard ; Beardsley, Robert C.

CTD and acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) observations were made in the Great South Channel (GSC) off the New England coast during R/V Endeavor cruise EN196 May 18 to June 12, 1989 as part of the South Channel Ocean Productivity EXperiment (SCOPEX). These observations were obtained using several sampling plans - a series of small-scale surveys in support of biological sampling and a large-scale survey of five cross-channel transects extending from Nantucket Shoals and the coast of Cape Cod to Georges Bank. The maximum sampling depth at each station was within a few meters of the bottom. The primary objectives of the hydrographic measurement program were to a) observe and characterize the temperature, salinity, density, oxygen, fluorescence and light transmission fields and their spatial variability in the Great South Channel off the New England coast, (b) resolve the low salinity surface plume-like structure usually observed east of Cape Cod in late spring, (c) define the front or boundary between the vertically well-mixed water over Nantucket Shoals, the GSC, Georges Bank, and the stratified water in the deeper southwestern Gulf of Maine, and (d) characterize water properties in regions of enhanced biological productivity. This report presents a summary in graphic and tabular form of the hydrographic observations made during cruise EN196 on the R/V Endeavor.
Atmosphere and marginal-sea interaction leading to an interannual variation in cold-air outbreak activity over the Japan Sea

(American Meteorological Society, 2007-12-01) Isobe, Atsuhiko ; Beardsley, Robert C.

The interannual variation in cold-air outbreak activity over the Japan Sea is investigated using Japan Meteorological Agency buoy 21002 and Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) wind data, Japan Oceanographic Data Center sea surface temperature (SST) data, NCEP–NCAR reanalysis surface wind and sea level pressure (SLP) data, and the winter Arctic Oscillation (AO) index of Thompson and Wallace. Cold-air outbreaks occur during the “winter” November–March period, and wind data for this season for the 19-winter period 1981–2000 were analyzed. Wavelet spectra averaged between 5- and 15-day periods were used to evaluate the intensity of cold-air outbreaks quantitatively. The winter mean wavelet spectra exhibited a clear interannual variation and a significant positive correlation with the AO index, indicating that intensive cold-air outbreaks frequently occur during relatively warm winters caused by a quasi-decadal AO. Based on the SST and SLP data, the low atmospheric surface pressure disturbances tend to develop over the warm East China Sea in warm winters in the positive AO phase. As these low SLP disturbances advance toward the northern Japan islands during the positive AO phase, they intensify more, leading to stronger cold-air outbreaks over the Japan Sea and increased sea surface cooling over the northern Japan Sea.
The 1995 Georges Bank Stratification Study and moored array measurements

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2001-08) Alessi, Carol A. ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Caruso, Michael J. ; Churchill, James H. ; Irish, James D. ; Lentz, Steven J. ; Limeburner, Richard ; Werner, R. ; Weller, Robert A. ; Williams, Albert J. ; Williams, William J. ; Manning, James P. ; Smith, P.

The 1995 Geoges Bank Stratification Study (GBSS) was the first intensive process study conducted as part of the U.S. GLOBEC Northwest Atlantic/Georges Bank field program. The GBSS was designed to investigate the physical processes which control the seasonal development of stratification along the southern flank of Georges Bank during spring and summer. Past work suggested that during this period, larval cod and haddock tended to aggregate to the thermocline on the southern flank where higher concentrations of their copepod prey were found. A moored array was deployed as part of GBSS to observe the onset and evolution of sesonal stratification over the southern flank with sufficient vertical and horizontal resolution that key physical processes could be identified and quantified. Moored current, temperature, and conductivity (salinity) measurements were made at three sites along the southern flank, one on the crest, and one on the northeast peak of the bank. Moored surface meteorological measurements were also made at one southern flank site to determine the surface wind stress and heat and moisture fluxes. The oceanographic and meteorological data collected with the GBSS array during January-August 1995 are presented in this report. Meteorological data collected on National Data Buoy Center environmental buoys 44011 (Georges Bank), 44008 (Nantucket Shoals), and 44005 (Gulf of Maine) are included in this report for completeness and comparison with the GBSS southern flank meteorological measurements.
Estimating sea-ice coverage, draft, and velocity in Marguerite Bay (Antarctica) using a subsurface moored upward-looking acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP)

( 2007-09-14) Hyatt, Jason ; Visbeck, Martin ; Beardsley, Robert C. ; Owens, W. Brechner

A technique for the analysis of data from a subsurface moored upward-looking acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) to determine ice coverage, draft and velocity is presented and applied to data collected in Marguerite Bay on the western Antarctic Peninsula shelf. This method provides sea ice information when no dedicated upward-looking sonar (ULS) data is available. Ice detection is accomplished using windowed variances of ADCP vertical velocity, vertical error velocity, and surface horizontal speed. ADCP signal correlation and backscatter intensity were poor indicators of the presence of ice at this site. Ice draft is estimated using a combination of ADCP backscatter data, atmospheric and oceanic pressure data, and information about the thermal stratification. This estimate requires corrections to the ADCP-derived range for instrument tilt and sound speed profile. Uncertainties of ± 0.20 m during midwinter and ± 0.40 m when the base of the surface mixed layer is above the ADCP for ice draft are estimated based on (a) a Monte Carlo simulation, (b) uncertainty in the sound speed correction, and (c) performance of the zero-draft estimate during times of known open water. Ice velocity is taken as the ADCP horizontal velocity in the depth bin specified by the range estimate.
Shelf MIxed Layer Experiment (SMILE) program description and coastal and moored array data report

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1991-12) Alessi, Carol A. ; Lentz, Steven J. ; Beardsley, Robert C.

The Shelf MIxed Layer Experiment (SMILE) was designed to study the response of the oceanic surface boundary layer over the continental shelf to atmospheric forcing. The SMILE field program was conducted over the northern California shelf between Pt. Arena and Pt. Reyes from mid-November 1988 to mid-May 1989. The field program consisted of five main components: (a) a long-term moored array to obtain current, temperature, and conductivity time series observations in the upper ocean over the shelf; (b) a short-term moored instrument deployment to measure the vertical current shear and stratification in the top 6 m of the water column; (c) shipboard CTD and acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) surveys over the shelf and adjacent slope to map regional water property and current distributions; (d) a long-term moored and coastal meteorological array including one sounding station to obtain time series observations of the atmospheric surface forcing and monitor the structure of the marine boundary layer; and (e) overflights with an instrumented aircraft to measure the spatial structure of the surface wind, wind stress, and heat flux fields under different atmospheric conditions. This report has two objectives: (a) to describe the SMILE field program, including overviews of the five components, and (b) to present a statistical and graphical summary of the atmospheric (wind, air temperature, pressure, relative humidity, short- and longwave radiation) and oceanic (current, water temperature, and conductivity) long-term array measurements made as part of SMILE. A more detailed description of the instrumentation used in SMILE and an assessment of instrument performance and accuracy are presented separately by Dean et al. (1991).

Beardsley Robert C.

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