Meeting Abstracts
Deep Gulf of Mexico Circulation from RAFOS Observations: An Overview of Past and Future Studies
Peter Hamilton, Amy Bower, Paula Perez-Brunius, Robert Leben
Science Applications International Corporation, Raleigh, NC
(Abstract received 05/07/2012 for session A)
ABSTRACT
In September 2010, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) initiated a three-year observational study of the circulation below 1000 m in the deep basins of the Gulf of Mexico, using Lagrangian methods. Initial deployments of RAFOS floats ballasted at 1500 and 2500 m have been completed, and it is planned to have ~ 120 floats deployed, the majority with two year lifetimes, by the end of October 2012. Floats have been and will be deployed in all parts of the Gulf in both the US and Mexican EEZ’s. Four sound sources were deployed in summer 2011, and will be operational for at least four years. The design of the study was based on analyses of deep gulf currents from moorings and a previous one-year deployment of 36 RAFOS floats in 2003. These observations will be reviewed, and in particular, the RAFOS float tracks showed and confirmed some features of the deep circulation that were speculatively based on rather sparse moored current data. These include the presence of a jet along the deep Sigsbee escarpment, looping tracks over restricted areas that could be the result of topographic Rossby wave (TRW) dominated flows, and the relative lack of evidence of deep translating eddies. The analysis goals for the on-going study will be discussed.