H221-06
Designing ocean field campaigns for the SWOT fast-sampling phase
Thursday, 17 December 2020: 04:20
Virtual
Kyla Drushka, Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, Peter Gaube, Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington, Air-Sea Interaction and Remote Sensing, Seattle, WA, United States, Luc Rainville, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, Dimitris Menemenlis, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States and Francesco d'Ovidio, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Paris, France
Abstract:
Following its launch, SWOT will spend 90 days in a fast-sampling phase, when it will cover a limited set of ground-tracks each day, allowing SWOT to sample the same area twice daily at numerous crossover locations. The fast-sampling phase will provide an unprecedented opportunity to combine high resolution surface topography measurements with in situ observations at multiple sites around the global ocean, enabling new scientific discovery, improving model parameterizations and validation, and improving interpretation of SWOT data during the nominal orbit.
As part of the international “Adopt-a-Crossover” effort, a number of field campaigns are planned during the SWOT fast-sampling period, including experiments in the California Current, Mediterranean Sea, Western Pacific, and Southern Ocean. In support of this effort, we present results from the 1/48-degree MITgcm simulation in each of the Adopt-a-Crossover locations. Sites are characterized in terms of their variability on the 15-150 km horizontal scales relevant to SWOT. We compare the dominant processes at these scales, including mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics, internal waves and tides, and discuss measurement strategies for capturing these features. Ultimately, model output and analysis tools will be made broadly available to enable community efforts to plan and carry out SWOT-related campaigns.
