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Abstract:
We deployed a propulsion system-aided glider in a high current environment off the Florida shelf fitted with an ADCP, a CTD, and optics channel sensors to obtain measurements of current velocities, salinity, temperature, pressure, dissolved organic matter (DOM), chlorophyll, and backscatter. We also used a wave-powered profiling platform, a Wirewalker, fitted with both an ADCP and a CTD to obtain measurements at a 120-m isobath. ADCP velocities from both devices were validated using glider coordinates and overlapping temporal windows for comparisons between dives. Processing of the datasets motion-corrected velocity measurements from both devices. Additionally, the glider optics channels were used to assess differences in particle distributions through time. Wirewalker velocity measurements qualitatively coincided with the glider’s ADCP overall, albeit not perfectly quantitatively. This was partly dependent on whether the upcast or downcast for each dive was compared, as well as distance from the glider. Both ADCPs’ velocity measurements show clear evidence of a southward flowing intermittent undercurrent jet previously reported by Soloviev et al. (2017). The glider’s optics channels also show evidence of the undercurrent, and a possible influx of water from Port Everglades. The volume transport by the southward flow is relatively small compared to the Florida Current’s transport. Nevertheless, the processes that maintain and account for the variability of the southward flow are important for a number of practical applications including the propagation of pollution and genetic information against the Florida Current.
