June 1st, 2016: FB1-Seminar

Wednesday 1st June, 2016

14:00 h, Lecture Hall, Düsternbrooker Weg 20

Abstract:

In April 2015, two Seagliders (autonomous robotic platforms) were deployed for the very first time in the Agulhas Current region as part of the Shelf Agulhas Glider Experiment (SAGE). The primary research objective of SAGE was to improve our understanding of how western boundary currents interact with the coastal ocean and how climate variability may impact such interactions. The profiling gliders offered a state-of-the-art technology to sample the energetic inshore regions of the Agulhas Current by providing continuous measurements of the water column at high spatial (100s of meters to 3km) and temporal (0.5-4 hourly) resolution. The continuous and high resolution observations from the gliders revealed the impact of sub-mesoscale (<10km) instabilities on the mean structure of the cross-shelf circulation. These instabilities develop as small cyclonic eddies at the inshore edge of the Aguhas Current. On their shallower side, the cyclonic eddy often become unstable which leads to the formation of a warm water plume which then intrude onto the shelf and coastal regions. The cumulative impact of the small cyclonic eddies and their associated plumes is to create a counter-current at the edge of the Agulhas Current.

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