A Lagrangian Study of the Deep Circulation in the Gulf of Mexico
Co-PIs: Amy Bower (WHOI), Peter Hamilton (Leidos), Paula Perez-Brunius (CICESE) and Bob Leben (U. Colorado)
This study was designed to map circulation throughout the deep Gulf of Mexico with a large number of subsurface neutrally buoyant floats, producing new knowledge on circulation features and processes, and deep-water parcel transport and dispersion. The instruments used were acoustically tracked RAFOS floats (ballasted for 1500- and 2500-dbar), to map water parcel pathways, and profiling APEX floats equipped with bio-optical sensors, which profiled from the surface to 1500-dbar. A total of 180 RAFOS floats and 6 APEX floats were deployed in different seasons over three years 2011-2013. The final three seedings of RAFOS floats surfaced in spring 2015 and the APEX continued to report twice-monthly profile data through the end of 2015.
Posters
Furey, H., P. Perez-Brunius, A. Bower, and P. Hamilton, 2014. Deep Eddies in the Gulf of Mexico. AGU Fall 2014, OS43B-1278
Funding
This project was generously funded through SAIC by a grant from the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management.
Publications
Morey, S.L., Gopalakrishnan, G., Pallás Sanz, E., De Souza, J.M.A.C., Donohue, K., Pérez-Brunius, P., Dukhovskoy, D., Chassignet, E., Cornuelle, B., Bower, A. and Furey, H., 2020. Assessment of Numerical Simulations of Deep Circulation and Variability in the Gulf of Mexico Using Recent Observations. Journal of Physical Oceanography, (2020). doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-19-0137.1
Hamilton, P., A. Bower, H. Furey, R. Leben, and P. Perez-Brunius, 2019. The Loop Current: Observations of deep eddies and topographic waves. Journal of Physical Oceanography, doi.10.1175/JPO-D-18-0213.1.
Ramsey, A., H. Furey, and A. Bower, 2018. Deep floats reveal ocean circulation patterns. Eos, 99, doi.org/10.1029/2018EO105549.
Furey, H., Bower, A., Perez-Brunius, P., Hamilton, P. and Leben, R., 2018. Deep eddies in the Gulf of Mexico observed with floats. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 48(11), pp.2703-2719.
Hamilton, P., Leben, R., Bower, A., Furey, H. and Pérez-Brunius, P., 2018. Hydrography of the Gulf of Mexico using autonomous floats. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 48(4), pp.773-794.
Pérez Brunius, P, H. Furey, A. Bower, P. Hamilton, J. Candela, P. Garcia-Carrilo, and R. Leben, 2018. Dominant circulation patterns of the deep Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Physical Oceanography, doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-17-0140.1.
Hamilton, P. A. Bower, H. Furey. R. Leben, and P. Perez-Brunius, 2016. Deep Circulations in the Gulf of Mexico: A Lagrangian Study. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study BOEM 2016-081, 289 pp.
Green, R., A.S. Bower, and A. Lugo-Fernandez, 2014. First autonomous bio-optical profiling float in the Gulf of Mexico reveals dynamic biogeochemistry in deep waters. PLOS ONE 9(7):e101658