ARCTERX

The South China Sea and the Philippine Sea are understood to be among of the most energetic regional seas in the global ocean. The combination of the Kuroshio Current, the monsoons, typhoons, strong tides, and the dramatic topography of the region lead to a rich physical forcing environment. Numerous ONR DRI studies have documented the physical oceanography of internal waves, typhoons, and currents characterizing the region (ASIAEX, NLIWI, IWISE, ITOP, OKMC, FLEAT). The region has long been documented to have enhanced levels of eddy kinetic energy; a topic not previously addressed by these studies. A distributed system observational program will investigate sub-mesoscale processes in the S. China Sea/Philippine Sea region of the First and Second Island Arcs. The focus will be on the turbulent eddy exchange throughout this region, and on the class of oceanographic variability that is poorly constrained in models including eddies, rings, vortices and filaments, and their interactions with smaller-scale phenomena. Work will focus on in-situ sampling with a heavy emphasis on autonomous instrument platforms, which have the ability to follow features of interest over weeks to months over vast regions.