Airborne Remote Sensing of Upper-Ocean and Surface Properties, Currents and Their Gradients From Meso to Submesoscales

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, 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 128 m resolution. This data set provides a unique opportunity to examine how currents at scales ranging from 1 to 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.

Automated summary

In this study, a unique set of high-resolution observations of surface currents and directional properties of surface waves collected from an airborne instrument, the Modular Aerial Sensing System, off the coast of Southern California is presented. The new instrument, DoppVis, is capable of capturing high-resolution observations of near surface current profiles and shear down to 128 m resolution. This dataset provides an opportunity to examine the modulation of bulk, directional and spectral properties of surface gravity waves by currents at scales ranging from 1 to 100 km, and contributes to the understanding of submesoscale processes and the transitions between mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics.