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Airborne observations of surface winds, waves and currents from meso to submesoscales
  • +6
  • Luc Lenain,
  • Benjamin K Smeltzer,
  • Nicholas Pizzo,
  • Mara A. Freilich,
  • Luke Vincent Colosi,
  • Simen Ådnøy Ellingsen,
  • Laurent Grare,
  • Hugo peyriere,
  • Nicholas M. Statom
Luc Lenain
Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Benjamin K Smeltzer
SINTEF
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Nicholas Pizzo
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
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Mara A. Freilich
UC San Diego
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Luke Vincent Colosi
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
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Simen Ådnøy Ellingsen
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
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Laurent Grare
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
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Hugo peyriere
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
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Nicholas M. Statom
University of California, San Diego
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Abstract

In this work we present a unique set of coincident and collocated high- resolution observations of surface currents and directional properties of surface waves collected from an airborne instrument, the Modular Aerial Sensing System (MASS), collected off the coast of Southern California. High-resolution observations of near surface current profiles and shear are obtained using a new instrument, DoppVis, capable of capturing horizontal spatial current variability down to 128m resolution. This data set provides a unique opportunity to examine how currents at scales ranging from 1-100 km modulate bulk (e.g. significant wave height), directional and spectral properties of surface gravity waves. Such observations are a step toward developing better understanding of the underlying physics of submesoscale processes (e.g. frontogenesis and frontal arrest) and the nature of transitions between mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics.
04 Jan 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
10 Jan 2023Published in ESS Open Archive