Study of Kuroshio Intrusion and Transport Using Moorings, HPIES, and EM-APEX Floats in the QPEU Experiment

Our long-term scientific goals are to understand the dynamics and identify mechanisms of small-scale processes--i.e., internal tides, inertial waves, nonlinear internal waves NLIWs, and turbulence mixing--in the ocean and thereby help develop improved parameterizations of mixing for ocean models. Mixing within the stratified ocean is a particular focus as the complex interplay of internal waves from a variety of sources and turbulence makes this a current locus of uncertainty. For this study, our focus is on small-scale processes NLIWs and inertial waves, internal tides, and cold-water intrusions generated as the Kuroshio and barotropic tides interact with the continental shelf of the East China Sea ECS and with one prominent submarine ridge I-Lan Ridge. These small-scale processes modulate the temporal, horizontal, and vertical spatial structures of water properties in the ocean, and therefore may significantly modify oceanic acoustics and introduce uncertainty to sonar performance and acoustic propagation. Our ultimate goal is to collaborate with acousticians to identify oceanic processes that alter acoustic properties. The properties, mechanisms, and dynamics of these oceanic processes will help quantify and assess uncertainty in acoustic prediction.