North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment (NATRE)

The HRP was used to perform a survey of the potential tracer release area to determine the best location for injection. A 10 station by 10 station grid, 10 kilometers on a side was occupied, with the dives terminated at 2000 meters. The tracer release site was selected on the basis of the data collected in these profiles. The station map (above) shows a cluster of profiles done at the injection site to further quanitfy the likely dynamics before injection. During the 24 day cruise on the R/V Oceanus, 155 profiles were completed.

Also noteworthy during the experiment was the completion of the first ever microstructure profiles to 4000 meters. These were done after the survey, off the African coast near 24.5 N, 20.25 W. The HRP is well suited to obtaining deep microstructure measurements, and completed these without incident.

The publications resulting from this experiment are:

• Montgomery,E.T., R.W.Schmitt, J.M.Toole and K.L.Polzin, 1992. Site survey results for the North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment. EOS, Transactions, Americian Geophysical Union, 73(43), p 321.
• Montgomery, E. T. and R. W. Schmitt,1993. Cruise Report - Oceanus 250, leg 4. High Resolution Profiler Survey for the North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment: (NATRE), March 25 - April 24, 1992. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Technical Report 93-39, 41 pp.
• Toole, J. M., K. L. Polzin, and R. W. Schmitt, 1994. Estimates of diapycnal mixing in the abyssal ocean.   Science,  264, 1120-1123.
• Polzin, K., J. M. Toole, and R. W. Schmitt, 1995.  Finescale parameterizations of turbulent  dissipation.   Journal of Physical Oceanography,  25 (3), 306--328.
• Polzin, K. L., 1996.  Statistics of the Richardson Number:  mixing models and finestructure.   Journal of Physical Oceanography, 26(8), 1409-1425.
• Schmitt, R. W., 1999.  Spice and the Demon.  Science, 283 (5401), 498-499.
• St. Laurent, L. and R. W. Schmitt, 1999. The contribution of salt fingers to vertical mixing in the North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 29, (7), 1404-1424.
• Polzin, K. L., E. Kunze, J. M. Toole and R. W. Schmitt, 2000. The partitioning of small-scale energy into internal waves and vortices: Implications for horizontal mixing, Journal of Physical Oceanography, submitted.

 

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