SEASTAR: A Mission to Study Ocean Submesoscale Dynamics and Small-Scale Atmosphere-Ocean Processes in Coastal, Shelf and Polar Seas
Type | Article | ||||||||
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Date | 2019-08 | ||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||
Author(s) | Gommenginger Christine1, Chapron Bertrand2, Hogg Andy3, Buckingham Christian4, Fox-Kemper Baylor5, Eriksson Leif6, Soulat Francois7, Ubelmann Clément7, Ocampo-Torres Francisco8, Nardelli Bruno Buongiorno9, Griffin David10, Lopez-Dekker Paco11, Knudsen Per12, Andersen Ole12, Stenseng Lars13, Stapleton Neil14, Perrie William15, Violante-Carvalho Nelson16, Schulz-Stellenfleth Johannes17, Woolf David18, Isern-Fontanet Jordi19, Ardhuin Fabrice![]() ![]() |
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Affiliation(s) | 1 : National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom 2 : Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer, Brest, France 3 : Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia 4 : Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Brest, France 5 : Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States 6 : Department of Space Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden 7 : Collecte Localisation Satellites, Toulouse, France 8 : Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Ensenada, Mexico 9 : Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Bologna, Italy 10 : Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, ACT, Australia 11 : Department of Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands 12 : Department of Geodesy, DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark 13 : Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark 14 : Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Salisbury, United Kingdom 15 : Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Dartmouth, NS, Canada 16 : Program of Ocean Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 17 : Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht – Centre for Materials and Coastal Research, Geesthacht, Germany 18 : School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 19 : Institut de Ciencies del Mar, Barcelona, Spain 20 : Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats, Esporles, Spain 21 : Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Expérimentations et Approches Numériques, Paris, France 22 : Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, Guyancourt, France 23 : Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut, De Bilt, Netherlands 24 : Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales, Toulouse, France 25 : Météo-France, Toulouse, France 26 : Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway 27 : Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway 28 : NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, La Cañada Flintridge, CA, United States 29 : Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Bergen, Norway 30 : National Oceanography Centre, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom 31 : Northern Research Institute, Tromsø, Norway 32 : Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States 33 : United States Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, United States 34 : OceanDataLab, Brest, France 35 : Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, United Kingdom 36 : Satellite Oceanography Laboratory, Russian State Hydrometeorological University, Saint Petersburg, Russia 37 : Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, United States 38 : Starlab, Barcelona, Spain 39 : Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia 40 : Met Office, Exeter, United Kingdom 41 : School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom 42 : Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States 43 : School of Ocean and Earth Science an Technology, International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States 44 : Department of Ocean Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States 45 : GeoHydrodynamics and Environment Research, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium 46 : Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom 47 : College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States 48 : Departamento de Geociências, Ambiente e Ordenamento do Território, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal 49 : Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom 50 : Department of Meteorology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States 51 : Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom 52 : Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Earth and Ocean Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada 53 : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States 54 : Airbus Defence and Space Ltd., Portsmouth, United Kingdom |
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Source | Frontiers In Marine Science (2296-7745) (Frontiers Media SA), 2019-08 , Vol. 6 , N. 457 , P. 7p. | ||||||||
DOI | 10.3389/fmars.2019.00457 | ||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 32 | ||||||||
Keyword(s) | satellite, air sea interactions, upper ocean dynamics, submesoscale, coastal, marginal ice zone, radar, along-track interferometry | ||||||||
Abstract | High-resolution satellite images of ocean color and sea surface temperature reveal an abundance of ocean fronts, vortices and filaments at scales below 10 km but measurements of ocean surface dynamics at these scales are rare. There is increasing recognition of the role played by small scale ocean processes in ocean-atmosphere coupling, upper-ocean mixing and ocean vertical transports, with advanced numerical models and in situ observations highlighting fundamental changes in dynamics when scales reach 1 km. Numerous scientific publications highlight the global impact of small oceanic scales on marine ecosystems, operational forecasts and long-term climate projections through strong ageostrophic circulations, large vertical ocean velocities and mixed layer re-stratification. Small-scale processes particularly dominate in coastal, shelf and polar seas where they mediate important exchanges between land, ocean, atmosphere and the cryosphere, e.g., freshwater, pollutants. As numerical models continue to evolve toward finer spatial resolution and increasingly complex coupled atmosphere-wave-ice-ocean systems, modern observing capability lags behind, unable to deliver the high-resolution synoptic measurements of total currents, wind vectors and waves needed to advance understanding, develop better parameterizations and improve model validations, forecasts and projections. SEASTAR is a satellite mission concept that proposes to directly address this critical observational gap with synoptic two-dimensional imaging of total ocean surface current vectors and wind vectors at 1 km resolution and coincident directional wave spectra. Based on major recent advances in squinted along-track Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry, SEASTAR is an innovative, mature concept with unique demonstrated capabilities, seeking to proceed toward spaceborne implementation within Europe and beyond. |
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