R. C. Beardsley, S. J. Lentz, and J. C. Churchill
With support from this grant, we plan to (a) complete the analysis of physical data collected in the 1995 Georges Bank Stratification Study moored array, small-scale drifter, and hydrographic components, (b) use this information combined with other moored and hydrographic data to describe the development of stratification during the first half of 1995, (c) describe and model the water column response to surface forcing along the southern flank, with emphasis on the surface and bottom boundary layers, (d) describe a large intrusion of Slope Water which occurred in May, apparently driven by a warm-core ring, (e) help compare the 1995 field data with prognostic numerical model simulations to be conducted by D. Lynch and co-workers using the measured surface wind stress and heat flux, (f) collaborate with other PIs in understanding the impact of the 1995 physical fields and their spatial and temporal evolution on the target species, and (g) complete and publish manuscripts and theses resulting from this work.Most of the basic physical oceanographic data collected in the 1995 Stratification Study has now been edited, and preliminary estimates of the surface forcing and water column response have been made. S. Werner (a WHOI/MIT Joint Program student) just completed her M.S. on the bottom boundary-layer structure at the center southern flank mooring during a winter period of little vertical stratification. She will continue to work on bottom boundary-layer structure and the effects of stratification on this grant as part of her Ph.D. thesis. An initial look at the surface heat flux shows that net heating did not begin until April, and that the subsequent heating tracks the change in water column heat content at the central mooring site ST1, suggesting that a one-dimensional heat balance may be applicable.