Science Meetings

Near-surface Stratification Effects in the SPURS Field Campaigns
Clayson, C.A., Bogandoff, A., Farrar, T., Edson, J., St. Laurent, L., and Schmitt, R. (24-May-17)

Stratification of the upper ocean in the tropics can occur under conditions of a positive heat flux from the atmosphere and/or positive freshwater flux. As such the strength of the stratification and the resulting changes in the surface temperature and salinity are highly sensitive to both the air-sea fluxes and the background initial stratification and mixing. In this talk, I shall discuss observations and modeling of the upper ocean stratification during the SPURS-1 and SPURS-2 field campaigns, including the variation in stratification seen as a result of diurnal warming, freshwater inputs, or both. The resulting mixing and temporal evolution of the stably stratified upper layers will also be discussed.