Oceanography | Vol. 37, No. 4
FIGURE 3. UUV sampling during the 2018 pilot experiment. The left panels are temperature and salinity from Seaglider 124, with mixed layer depth indi-
cated. Wind and wave conditions (top right panels) and upper ocean turbulent dissipation rate (lower right panel) from Slocum glider “Husker” over the
course of several strong storms during the cruise period. White dots indicate mixed layer depth, and the contours indicate the ε = 10–9 and 10–7 W kg–1
dissipation levels. See also Figure 2.
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
During the multiple years of the NISKINe
program, an extraordinary number
of autonomous assets were employed
(Figure 2a). Te NISKINe study may be
among the largest collective deployments
of autonomous assets for a single pro-
gram. Tis focused use of autonomous
assets was particularly helpful in 2020,
when the Covid pandemic signifcantly
impacted the availability of ship-based
sampling. Together with ship sampling
and moorings, autonomous platforms
captured processes happening on many
diferent temporal and spatial scales that
are fundamental to understanding the
evolution of near-inertial waves.
While results from the NISKINe study
are still being assessed and written up, a
clear outcome of the program is a better
understanding of the signifcant role that
vorticity plays in moderating the input
and subsequent cascade of near-inertial
energy and shear into the ocean interior.
Such NIW-eddy interactions are high-
lighted in this special issue (e.g., Tomas
et al., 2024a). Te coupling of the atmo-
spheric storm track with enhanced
oceanic vorticity in the region of the
North Atlantic Current distinguishes
FIGURE 4. Sampling modules during the 2019 process cruise. The cruise track, colored by abso-
lute sea surface salinity, is overlaid upon contours of dynamic topography (2 cm intervals). The color
scale for salinity, the same for all panels, shows the details of the frontal stratification that character-
izes the submesoscale dynamics of the flow. Modules 1–4 are described in the text.
-28°
-26°
-24°
-22°
-20°
57°
58°
59°
60°
61°
35.1
35.15
35.2
35.25
35.3 g/kg
sea surface
absolute salinity
29 May 1400 to 06 Jun 0800
05 Jun 0800 to 08 Jun 0100
57°40’
57°50’
57°30’
57°20’
57°00’
24°00’
23°30’
24°30’
23°00’
22°00’
23°30’
22°30’
22°00’
21°00’
20°30’
22°30’
21°30’
24°00’
23°00’
22°30’
23°30’
57°10’
57°30’
57°20’
57°10’
58°10’
58°00’
57°50’
58°10’
58°20’
58°30’
58°40’
58°00’
58°10’
58°20’
58°30’
58°40’
58°50’
58°00’
08 Jun 0400 to 09 Jun 1500
09 Jun 1500 to 15 Jun 2100
20 km
20 km
20 km
20 km
confluence
jet
sheepdog
100 km
moorings
greyhound
deployment
array #2
deployment
array #3
deployment
array #1
fence
CTDs
uCTD
uCTD
20 May
27 May
03 Jun
10 Jun
17 Jun
24 Jun
01 Jul
200
400
600
800
1000
depth [m]
34.9
35
35.1
35.2
35.3
35.4
35.5 psu
MLD
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600 650
700 km
cumulative distance along track
20 May
27 May
03 Jun
10 Jun
17 Jun
24 Jun
01 Jul
200
400
600
800
1000
depth [m]
10
11
12°C
MLD
19 May
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
20
18
16
14
12
10
21 May
23 May
25 May
27 May
Depth (m)
Depth (m)
Depth (m)
Depth (m)
u10
Hs