InnerShelf2017

Inner Shelf extravaganza gets underway!

Scientists from ours and other groups at Scripps, as well as other institutions around the country, are gearing up for a major initiative to better understand the "inner shelf".  This is the region just offshore of the surf zone (yes that is the technical term) but still in the relatively shallow water of the coastal ocean.  This area is governed by unique but complex physical processes, including wind-driven circulation, upwelling, breaking waves, wakes and instabilities, and internal waves (that ride on density interfaces below the surface).  Funded by the Office of Naval Research, we will spend the next couple months observing and trying to detangle the complexities of this system using a combination of mooring and ship-based observations.  Befitting the complexities of this part of the ocean, we are attacking with with everything but the kitchen sink, including a staggering 119 moorings(!), 7 ships (!) working in concert, arrays of drifters, dedicated scientific aircraft surveys, and more.  We're just loading up gear right now, more details once we get underway!  https://scripps.ucsd.edu/projects/innershelf/readying-gear-on-the-rv-sally-ride/