Thompson
Andrew F.
Thompson
Andrew F.
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ArticleACC meanders, energy transfer, and barotropic–baroclinic instability(American Meteorological Society, 2017-04-12) Youngs, Madeleine K. ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Lazar, Ayah ; Richards, KelvinAlong-stream variations in the dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) impact heat and tracer transport, regulate interbasin exchange, and influence closure of the overturning circulation. Topography is primarily responsible for generating deviations from zonal-mean properties, mainly through standing meanders associated with regions of high eddy kinetic energy. Here, an idealized channel model is used to explore the spatial distribution of energy exchange and its relationship to eddy geometry, as characterized by both eddy momentum and eddy buoyancy fluxes. Variations in energy exchange properties occur not only between standing meander and quasi-zonal jet regions, but throughout the meander itself. Both barotropic and baroclinic stability properties, as well as the magnitude of energy exchange terms, undergo abrupt changes along the path of the ACC. These transitions are captured by diagnosing eddy fluxes of energy and by adopting the eddy geometry framework. The latter, typically applied to barotropic stability properties, is applied here in the depth–along-stream plane to include information about both barotropic and baroclinic stability properties of the flow. These simulations reveal that eddy momentum fluxes, and thus barotropic instability, play a leading role in the energy budget within a standing meander. This result suggests that baroclinic instability alone cannot capture the dynamics of ACC standing meanders, a challenge for models where eddy fluxes are parameterized.
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ArticleSouthern Ocean seasonal restratification delayed by submesoscale wind-front interactions(American Meteorological Society, 2019-04-11) du Plessis, Marcel ; Swart, Sebastiaan ; Ansorge, Isabelle ; Mahadevan, Amala ; Thompson, Andrew F.Ocean stratification and the vertical extent of the mixed layer influence the rate at which the ocean and atmosphere exchange properties. This process has direct impacts for anthropogenic heat and carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean. Submesoscale instabilities that evolve over space (1–10 km) and time (from hours to days) scales directly influence mixed layer variability and are ubiquitous in the Southern Ocean. Mixed layer eddies contribute to mixed layer restratification, while down-front winds, enhanced by strong synoptic storms, can erode stratification by a cross-frontal Ekman buoyancy flux. This study investigates the role of these submesoscale processes on the subseasonal and interannual variability of the mixed layer stratification using four years of high-resolution glider data in the Southern Ocean. An increase of stratification from winter to summer occurs due to a seasonal warming of the mixed layer. However, we observe transient decreases in stratification lasting from days to weeks, which can arrest the seasonal restratification by up to two months after surface heat flux becomes positive. This leads to interannual differences in the timing of seasonal restratification by up to 36 days. Parameterizing the Ekman buoyancy flux in a one-dimensional mixed layer model reduces the magnitude of stratification compared to when the model is run using heat and freshwater fluxes alone. Importantly, the reduced stratification occurs during the spring restratification period, thereby holding important implications for mixed layer dynamics in climate models as well as physical–biological coupling in the Southern Ocean.
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ArticleConstraining Southern Ocean air-sea-ice fluxes through enhanced observations(Frontiers Media, 2019-07-31) Swart, Sebastiaan ; Gille, Sarah T. ; Delille, Bruno ; Josey, Simon A. ; Mazloff, Matthew R. ; Newman, Louise ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Thomson, James M. ; Ward, Brian ; du Plessis, Marcel ; Kent, Elizabeth ; Girton, James B. ; Gregor, Luke ; Heil, Petra ; Hyder, Patrick ; Pezzi, Luciano Ponzi ; de Souza, Ronald Buss ; Tamsitt, Veronica ; Weller, Robert A. ; Zappa, Christopher J.Air-sea and air-sea-ice fluxes in the Southern Ocean play a critical role in global climate through their impact on the overturning circulation and oceanic heat and carbon uptake. The challenging conditions in the Southern Ocean have led to sparse spatial and temporal coverage of observations. This has led to a “knowledge gap” that increases uncertainty in atmosphere and ocean dynamics and boundary-layer thermodynamic processes, impeding improvements in weather and climate models. Improvements will require both process-based research to understand the mechanisms governing air-sea exchange and a significant expansion of the observing system. This will improve flux parameterizations and reduce uncertainty associated with bulk formulae and satellite observations. Improved estimates spanning the full Southern Ocean will need to take advantage of ships, surface moorings, and the growing capabilities of autonomous platforms with robust and miniaturized sensors. A key challenge is to identify observing system sampling requirements. This requires models, Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs), and assessments of the specific spatial-temporal accuracy and resolution required for priority science and assessment of observational uncertainties of the mean state and direct flux measurements. Year-round, high-quality, quasi-continuous in situ flux measurements and observations of extreme events are needed to validate, improve and characterize uncertainties in blended reanalysis products and satellite data as well as to improve parameterizations. Building a robust observing system will require community consensus on observational methodologies, observational priorities, and effective strategies for data management and discovery.
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ArticleAn observing system simulation experiment for the calibration and validation of the surface water ocean topography sea surface height measurement using in situ platforms(American Meteorological Society, 2018-02-07) Wang, Jinbo ; Fu, Lee-Lueng ; Qiu, Bo ; Menemenlis, Dimitris ; Farrar, J. Thomas ; Chao, Yi ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Flexas, M. MarThe wavenumber spectrum of sea surface height (SSH) is an important indicator of the dynamics of the ocean interior. While the SSH wavenumber spectrum has been well studied at mesoscale wavelengths and longer, using both in situ oceanographic measurements and satellite altimetry, it remains largely unknown for wavelengths less than ~70 km. The Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission aims to resolve the SSH wavenumber spectrum at 15–150-km wavelengths, which is specified as one of the mission requirements. The mission calibration and validation (CalVal) requires the ground truth of a synoptic SSH field to resolve the targeted wavelengths, but no existing observational network is able to fulfill the task. A high-resolution global ocean simulation is used to conduct an observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) to identify the suitable oceanographic in situ measurements for SWOT SSH CalVal. After fixing 20 measuring locations (the minimum number for resolving 15–150-km wavelengths) along the SWOT swath, four instrument platforms were tested: pressure-sensor-equipped inverted echo sounders (PIES), underway conductivity–temperature–depth (UCTD) sensors, instrumented moorings, and underwater gliders. In the context of the OSSE, PIES was found to be an unsuitable tool for the target region and for SSH scales 15–70 km; the slowness of a single UCTD leads to significant aliasing by high-frequency motions at short wavelengths below ~30 km; an array of station-keeping gliders may meet the requirement; and an array of moorings is the most effective system among the four tested instruments for meeting the mission’s requirement. The results shown here warrant a prelaunch field campaign to further test the performance of station-keeping gliders.
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ArticleEddy memory mode of multidecadal variability in residual-mean ocean circulations with application to the Beaufort Gyre(American Meteorological Society, 2017-04-12) Manucharyan, Georgy E. ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Spall, Michael A.Mesoscale eddies shape the Beaufort Gyre response to Ekman pumping, but their transient dynamics are poorly understood. Climate models commonly use the Gent–McWilliams (GM) parameterization, taking the eddy streamfunction to be proportional to an isopycnal slope s and an eddy diffusivity K. This local-in-time parameterization leads to exponential equilibration of currents. Here, an idealized, eddy-resolving Beaufort Gyre model is used to demonstrate that carries a finite memory of past ocean states, violating a key GM assumption. As a consequence, an equilibrating gyre follows a spiral sink trajectory implying the existence of a damped mode of variability—the eddy memory (EM) mode. The EM mode manifests during the spinup as a 15% overshoot in isopycnal slope (2000 km3 freshwater content overshoot) and cannot be explained by the GM parameterization. An improved parameterization is developed, such that is proportional to an effective isopycnal slope , carrying a finite memory γ of past slopes. Introducing eddy memory explains the model results and brings to light an oscillation with a period ≈ 50 yr, where the eddy diffusion time scale TE ~ 10 yr and γ ≈ 6 yr are diagnosed from the eddy-resolving model. The EM mode increases the Ekman-driven gyre variance by γ/TE ≈ 50% ± 15%, a fraction that stays relatively constant despite both time scales decreasing with increased mean forcing. This study suggests that the EM mode is a general property of rotating turbulent flows and highlights the need for better observational constraints on transient eddy field characteristics.
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ArticleSatellites to seafloor : toward fully autonomous ocean sampling(Oceanography Society, 2017-06) Thompson, Andrew F. ; Chao, Yi ; Chien, Steve ; Kinsey, James C. ; Flexas, M. Mar ; Erickson, Zachary K. ; Farrara, John ; Fratantoni, David M. ; Branch, Andrew ; Chu, Selina ; Troesch, Martina ; Claus, Brian ; Kepper, JamesFuture ocean observing systems will rely heavily on autonomous vehicles to achieve the persistent and heterogeneous measurements needed to understand the ocean’s impact on the climate system. The day-to-day maintenance of these arrays will become increasingly challenging if significant human resources, such as manual piloting, are required. For this reason, techniques need to be developed that permit autonomous determination of sampling directives based on science goals and responses to in situ, remote-sensing, and model-derived information. Techniques that can accommodate large arrays of assets and permit sustained observations of rapidly evolving ocean properties are especially needed for capturing interactions between physical circulation and biogeochemical cycling. Here we document the first field program of the Satellites to Seafloor project, designed to enable a closed loop of numerical model prediction, vehicle path-planning, in situ path implementation, data collection, and data assimilation for future model predictions. We present results from the first of two field programs carried out in Monterey Bay, California, over a period of three months in 2016. While relatively modest in scope, this approach provides a step toward an observing array that makes use of multiple information streams to update and improve sampling strategies without human intervention.
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ArticleA theory of the wind-driven Beaufort Gyre variability(American Meteorological Society, 2016-10-20) Manucharyan, Georgy E. ; Spall, Michael A. ; Thompson, Andrew F.The halocline of the Beaufort Gyre varies significantly on interannual to decadal time scales, affecting the freshwater content (FWC) of the Arctic Ocean. This study explores the role of eddies in the Ekman-driven gyre variability. Following the transformed Eulerian-mean paradigm, the authors develop a theory that links the FWC variability to the stability of the large-scale gyre, defined as the inverse of its equilibration time. The theory, verified with eddy-resolving numerical simulations, demonstrates that the gyre stability is explicitly controlled by the mesoscale eddy diffusivity. An accurate representation of the halocline dynamics requires the eddy diffusivity of 300 ± 200 m2 s−1, which is lower than what is used in most low-resolution climate models. In particular, on interannual and longer time scales the eddy fluxes and the Ekman pumping provide equally important contributions to the FWC variability. However, only large-scale Ekman pumping patterns can significantly alter the FWC, with spatially localized perturbations being an order of magnitude less efficient. Lastly, the authors introduce a novel FWC tendency diagnostic—the Gyre Index—that can be conveniently calculated using observations located only along the gyre boundaries. Its strong predictive capabilities, assessed in the eddy-resolving model forced by stochastic winds, suggest that the Gyre Index would be of use in interpreting FWC evolution in observations as well as in numerical models.
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Working PaperEXPORTS North Atlantic eddy tracking(NASA STI Program and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2022-10) Erickson, Zachary K. ; Fields, Erik ; Omand, Melissa M. ; Johnson, Leah ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; D'Asaro, Eric A. ; Carvalho, Filipa ; Dove, Lilian A. ; Lee, Craig M. ; Nicholson, David P. ; Shilling, Geoff ; Cetinić, Ivona ; Siegel, David A.The EXPORTS North Atlantic field campaign (EXPORTS-NA) of May 2021 used a diverse array of ship-based and autonomous platforms to measure and quantify processes leading to carbon export in the open ocean. The success of this field program relied heavily on the ability to make measurements following a Lagrangian trajectory within a coherent, retentive eddy (Sections 1, 2). Identifying an eddy that would remain coherent and retentive over the course of a monthlong deployment was a significant challenge that the EXPORTS team faced. This report details the processes and procedures used by the primarily shore-based eddy tracking team to locate, track, and sample with autonomous assets such an eddy before and during EXPORTS-NA.
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Working PaperEXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) North Atlantic sensor calibration and intercalibration documents(NASA STI Program and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2023-10-11) Siegel, David A. ; Cetinić, Ivona ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Nelson, Norman B. ; Sten, Michaela ; Omand, Melissa M. ; Traylor, Shawnee ; Nicholson, David P. ; D'Asaro, Eric A. ; Zhang, Xiaodong ; Erickson, Zachary K. ; Johnson, Leah ; Soto Ramos, IniaThe following documents collect information regarding the calibration and intercalibration of various sensors that were deployed during the North Atlantic field component of the NASA EXPORTS project (EXPORTS NA), which took place between May 4 and June 1, 2021 (Johnson et al., 2023). The EXPORTS NA campaign was designed to to provide a contrasting end member to the earlier North Pacific field campaign, and focused on carbon export associated with the North Atlantic spring bloom in which gravitational sinking of organic particles, the physical advection and mixing, and active transport by vertically migrating zooplankton are all expected to provide significant flux pathways. During EXPORTS NA data sets were collected from a variety of shipbased, autonomously-piloted, and Lagrangian platforms. Intercalibration activities were tasked to different groups within the EXPORTS project team. Team leads and contact information are listed below. The overarching goal of these activities was to identify a trusted sensor, carry out a careful calibration of this sensor, then base any intercalibraiton needs off of this sensor, occasionally propagating information across platforms. Full details of the intercalibration approach, assumptions, and summary are provided in the attached documents. All calibration and intercalibration activities were completed before data set were uplaoded to the NASA SeaBASS data repository. Data related to this cruise can be publicly accessed at: https://seabass.gsfc.nasa.gov/cruise/EXPORTSNA Updates to calibration and intercalibration documents required to reflect revised data sets will also be provided through SeaBASS. Questions concerning referencing these documents or accessing data sets should be directed to Inia Soto Ramos. NASA EXPORTS Science Lead: David Siegel, davesiegel@ucsb.edu NASA EXPORTS Project Scientist: Ivona Cetini´c, ivona.cetinic@nasa.gov NASA EXPORTS Data Manager: Inia Soto Ramos, inia.m.sotoramos@nasa.gov Calibration and intercalibration leads Temperature and salinity sensors: Andy Thompson, andrewt@caltech.edu Chlorophyll fluorescence sensors: Melissa Omand & Kaley Sten, momand@uri.edu Oxygen sensors: Shawnee Traylor & Roo Nicholson, shawnee@mit.edu Optical backscatter sensors: Xiaodong Zhang, Xiaodong.Zhang@usm.edu Lagrangian float sensors: Eric D’Asaro, dasaro@apl.washington.edu Underway sensors: Leah Johnson, leahjohn@uw.edu Underwater Vision Profiler (UVP)-Particle Size Distribution (PSD): David Siegel, davesiegel@ucsb.edu
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ArticleThe Southern Ocean mixed layer and its boundary fluxes: fine-scale observational progress and future research priorities(The Royal Society, 2023-06-26) Swart, Sebastiaan ; du Plessis, Marcel D. ; Nicholson, Sarah-Anne ; Monteiro, Pedro M. S. ; Dove, Lilian A. ; Thomalla, Sandy ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Biddle, Louise C. ; Edholm, Johan M. ; Giddy, Isabelle ; Heywood, Karen J. ; Lee, Craig ; Mahadevan, Amala ; Shilling, Geoff ; de Souza, Ronald BussInteractions between the upper ocean and air-ice-ocean fluxes in the Southern Ocean play a critical role in global climate by impacting the overturning circulation and oceanic heat and carbon uptake. Remote and challenging conditions have led to sparse observational coverage, while ongoing field programmes often fail to collect sufficient information in the right place or at the time-space scales required to constrain the variability occurring in the coupled ocean-atmosphere system. Only within the last 10 years have we been able to directly observe and assess the role of the fine-scale ocean and rapidly evolving atmospheric marine boundary layer on the upper limb of the Southern Ocean's overturning circulation. This review summarizes advances in mechanistic understanding, arising in part from observational programmes using autonomous platforms, of the fine-scale processes (1-100 km, hours-seasons) influencing the Southern Ocean mixed layer and its variability. We also review progress in observing the ocean interior connections and the coupled interactions between the ocean, atmosphere and cryosphere that moderate air-sea fluxes of heat and carbon. Most examples provided are for the ice-free Southern Ocean, while major challenges remain for observing the ice-covered ocean. We attempt to elucidate contemporary research gaps and ongoing/future efforts needed to address them. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Heat and carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean: the state of the art and future priorities'.
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Working PaperEXPORTS Measurements and Protocols for the NE Pacific Campaign(NASA STI Program and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2021-02) Behrenfeld, Michael J. ; Benitez-Nelson, Claudia R. ; Boss, Emmanuel S. ; Brzezinski, Mark A. ; Buck, Kristen N. ; Buesseler, Ken O. ; Burd, Adrian B. ; Carlson, Craig A. ; Cassar, Nicolas ; Cetinić, Ivona ; Close, Hilary G. ; Craig, Susanne E. ; D'Asaro, Eric A. ; Durkin, Colleen A. ; Estapa, Margaret L. ; Fassbender, Andrea ; Fox, James ; Freeman, Scott ; Gifford, Scott M. ; Gong, Weida ; Graff, Jason R. ; Gray, Deric ; Guidi, Lionel ; Halsey, Kim ; Hansell, Dennis A. ; Haëntjens, Nils ; Horner, Tristan J. ; Jenkins, Bethany D. ; Jones, Janice L. ; Karp-Boss, Lee ; Kramer, Sasha J. ; Lam, Phoebe J. ; Lee, Craig M. ; Lee, Jong-Mi ; Liu, Shuting ; Mannino, Antonio ; Maas, Amy E. ; Marchal, Olivier ; Marchetti, Adrian ; McDonnell, Andrew M. P. ; McNair, Heather ; Menden-Deuer, Susanne ; Morison, Francoise ; Nelson, Norman B. ; Nicholson, David P. ; Niebergall, Alexandria K. ; Omand, Melissa M. ; Passow, Uta ; Perry, Mary J. ; Popp, Brian N. ; Proctor, Chris ; Rafter, Patrick ; Roca-Martí, Montserrat ; Roesler, Collin S. ; Rubin, Edwina ; Rynearson, Tatiana A. ; Santoro, Alyson E. ; Siegel, David A. ; Sosik, Heidi M. ; Soto Ramos, Inia ; Stamieszkin, Karen ; Steinberg, Deborah K. ; Stephens, Brandon M. ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Van Mooy, Benjamin A. S. ; Zhang, XiaodongEXport Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) is a large-scale NASA-led and NSF co-funded field campaign that will provide critical information for quantifying the export and fate of upper ocean net primary production (NPP) using satellite information and state of the art technology.
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ArticleAn operational overview of the EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) Northeast Pacific field deployment(University of California Press, 2021-07-07) Siegel, David A. ; Cetinić, Ivona ; Graff, Jason R. ; Lee, Craig M. ; Nelson, Norman B. ; Perry, Mary J. ; Soto Ramos, Inia ; Steinberg, Deborah K. ; Buesseler, Ken O. ; Hamme, Roberta C. ; Fassbender, Andrea ; Nicholson, David P. ; Omand, Melissa M. ; Robert, Marie ; Thompson, Andrew F. ; Amaral, Vinicius ; Behrenfeld, Michael J. ; Benitez-Nelson, Claudia R. ; Bisson, Kelsey ; Boss, Emmanuel S. ; Boyd, Philip ; Brzezinski, Mark A. ; Buck, Kristen N. ; Burd, Adrian B. ; Burns, Shannon ; Caprara, Salvatore ; Carlson, Craig A. ; Cassar, Nicolas ; Close, Hilary G. ; D'Asaro, Eric A. ; Durkin, Colleen A. ; Erickson, Zachary K. ; Estapa, Margaret L. ; Fields, Erik ; Fox, James ; Freeman, Scott ; Gifford, Scott M. ; Gong, Weida ; Gray, Deric ; Guidi, Lionel ; Haëntjens, Nils ; Halsey, Kim ; Huot, Yannick ; Hansell, Dennis A. ; Jenkins, Bethany D. ; Karp-Boss, Lee ; Kramer, Sasha J. ; Lam, Phoebe J. ; Lee, Jong-Mi ; Maas, Amy E. ; Marchal, Olivier ; Marchetti, Adrian ; McDonnell, Andrew M. P. ; McNair, Heather ; Menden-Deuer, Susanne ; Morison, Francoise ; Niebergall, Alexandria K. ; Passow, Uta ; Popp, Brian N. ; Potvin, Geneviève ; Resplandy, Laure ; Roca-Martí, Montserrat ; Roesler, Collin S. ; Rynearson, Tatiana A. ; Traylor, Shawnee ; Santoro, Alyson E. ; Seraphin, Kanesa ; Sosik, Heidi M. ; Stamieszkin, Karen ; Stephens, Brandon M. ; Tang, Weiyi ; Van Mooy, Benjamin ; Xiong, Yuanheng ; Zhang, XiaodongThe goal of the EXport Processes in the Ocean from RemoTe Sensing (EXPORTS) field campaign is to develop a predictive understanding of the export, fate, and carbon cycle impacts of global ocean net primary production. To accomplish this goal, observations of export flux pathways, plankton community composition, food web processes, and optical, physical, and biogeochemical (BGC) properties are needed over a range of ecosystem states. Here we introduce the first EXPORTS field deployment to Ocean Station Papa in the Northeast Pacific Ocean during summer of 2018, providing context for other papers in this special collection. The experiment was conducted with two ships: a Process Ship, focused on ecological rates, BGC fluxes, temporal changes in food web, and BGC and optical properties, that followed an instrumented Lagrangian float; and a Survey Ship that sampled BGC and optical properties in spatial patterns around the Process Ship. An array of autonomous underwater assets provided measurements over a range of spatial and temporal scales, and partnering programs and remote sensing observations provided additional observational context. The oceanographic setting was typical of late-summer conditions at Ocean Station Papa: a shallow mixed layer, strong vertical and weak horizontal gradients in hydrographic properties, sluggish sub-inertial currents, elevated macronutrient concentrations and low phytoplankton abundances. Although nutrient concentrations were consistent with previous observations, mixed layer chlorophyll was lower than typically observed, resulting in a deeper euphotic zone. Analyses of surface layer temperature and salinity found three distinct surface water types, allowing for diagnosis of whether observed changes were spatial or temporal. The 2018 EXPORTS field deployment is among the most comprehensive biological pump studies ever conducted. A second deployment to the North Atlantic Ocean occurred in spring 2021, which will be followed by focused work on data synthesis and modeling using the entire EXPORTS data set.