Collaborative Research: The impact of eddies, fronts, and horizontal stirring on exchange across the southern MAB Pioneer Array using high-resolution HFR surface currents

Small (2-20 km) scale horizontal features in the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight region are biologically important due to their role in moving nutrients and larvae across the continental shelf. This work will resolve the physical oceanography components of these exchanges and provide benchmark datasets for verifying numerical models. Surface current observations from this experiment will be integrated into K-12 programming to foster STEM education. Two students and a post-doctoral investigator will be trained. The curated surface current dataset will be shared widely, allowing a broad range of science and societal uses of the combined moored and remotely sensed observations. The investigators will incorporate the methods and results of this project in their classrooms. The scientific objective of this project is to examine the role of sub-mesoscale eddies and incoherent horizontal stirring of water masses across the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight. The experimental work will include installation of the array of coastal high-frequency radars that will provide surface currents with 2-km horizontal resolution and 30-minute temporal resolution for a period of 3 years. This array will complement existing observations from the Ocean Observatories Initiative's Pioneer Array, in-situ observations from gliders, and satellite observations of sea surface height (SWOT) and of sea surface temperature (AVHRR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.