In:
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, American Meteorological Society, Vol. 36, No. 2 ( 2019-02-01), p. 281-296
Abstract:
The turbulent dissipation rate ε is a key parameter to many oceanographic processes. Recently, gliders have been increasingly used as a carrier for microstructure sensors. Compared to conventional ship-based methods, glider-based microstructure observations allow for long-duration measurements under adverse weather conditions and at lower costs. The incident water velocity U is an input parameter for the calculation of the dissipation rate. Since U cannot be measured using the standard glider sensor setup, the parameter is normally computed from a steady-state glider flight model. As ε scales with U2 or U4, depending on whether it is computed from temperature or shear microstructure, respectively, flight model errors can introduce a significant bias. This study is the first to use measurements of in situ glider flight, obtained with a profiling Doppler velocity log and an electromagnetic current meter, to test and calibrate a flight model, extended to include inertial terms. Compared to a previously suggested flight model, the calibrated model removes a bias of approximately 1 cm s−1 in the incident water velocity, which translates to roughly a factor of 1.2 in estimates of the dissipation rate. The results further indicate that 90% of the estimates of the dissipation rate from the calibrated model are within a factor of 1.1 and 1.2 for measurements derived from microstructure temperature sensors and shear probes, respectively. We further outline the range of applicability of the flight model.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0739-0572
,
1520-0426
DOI:
10.1175/JTECH-D-18-0168.1
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Meteorological Society
Publication Date:
2019
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2021720-1
detail.hit.zdb_id:
48441-6
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