Project Details
Projekt
Ocean Array
Subject Area
Atmospheric Science, Oceanography and Climate Research
Term
Funded in 2026
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 571027118
A mooring is a type of underwater platform used by oceanographers to make time series measurements of ocean parameters (e.g., temperature, salinity, current speed). It comprises an anchor at the bottom and a line (wire or rope) held upright by attached flotation. Along the line, instruments measure the ocean, sampling at rates ranging from 1-second to hourly or longer. Moorings can be deployed in the ocean to make measurements over extended periods of time, ranging from a few weeks to 2 years. While instruments are typically installed self-logging, they may also be linked inductively through a central "hub". In the following, we will describe three planned use-cases for the Ocean Array (a collection of individual moorings): (i) submesoscale mooring array and (ii) large-scale circulation array and (iii) an ice-tethered array which anchors to sea-ice instead of the seabed. While a single mooring can be deployed with a single instrument, recent applications have shown that an array of moorings (a configuration consisting of multiple individual moorings, in a distributed configuration) can yield significantly more information about the ocean than would be the sum of their parts. These have included: (since 2004) the possibility to measure the strength of the “great ocean conveyor” using an array of 10 moorings spanning a line of latitude; since 2012, nested arrays of moorings (e.g. a triangle of moorings inside a larger triangle of moorings) to quantify ocean processes at the mesoscale (10-100 km horizontal scales) and submesoscale (1-10 km); and since 2020, through-ice synchronous measurements of the ocean mesoscale during the MOSAiC campaign. Crucially, the use of multiple moorings enables the calculation of horizontal gradients (d/dx or d/dy) which has opened up new possibilities within physical oceanography. Here, we apply for funding for an Ocean Array which can be configured as a sub/mesoscale-resolving anchored to the seabed or through sea-ice. Ocean submesoscales are now believed to play a leading role in the large-scale ocean and climate, motivating increases in resolution for ocean and climate models. Ocean measurements are required to validate newly developed parameterisations for submesoscale processes, and the Ocean Array can discern such information observationally. Scientific problems to be addressed include: - How dense waters are entrained as they overflow topographic constrictions, - How small-scale processed modulate ocean-ice interactions, - How lateral mixing determines latitudinal connections in the "great ocean conveyor".
DFG Programme
Major Research Instrumentation
Major Instrumentation
Ozean-Array
Instrumentation Group
0480 Spezielle Fahrzeuge und Geräteträger der Meeresforschung (außer Schiffe 240)
Applicant Institution
Universität Hamburg
