OHATS: Ocean Horizontal Array Turbulence Study

Summary

Ocean Horizontal Array Turbulence Study (OHATS) is part of an ongoing effort to investigate wind-wave interactions and improve our ability to assess the impacts on weather forecasts and climate variability. The investigation utilizes the Air-Sea Interaction Tower (ASIT) located off the coast of Martha's Vineyard as a platform for the continuous collection of atmospheric and ocean surface data.

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), this project investigates the physical processes that generate and/or modulate the turbulent transfer of momentum, heat, and mass through the atmospheric surface layer. Of primary interest is the investigation of how wind-generated waves and swell influence the marine surface layer and air-sea fluxes. The ultimate goal is to improve how these wave-induced processes are simulated in numerical models.

In the summer of 2004, researchers from WHOI and NCAR deployed an array of 18 sonic anemometers at the ASIT and suspended it below the 12-meter platform. The suspended array is composed of two levels with 9 sonics each at about 5 and 5.5 meters (16-17 feet) above mean sea level. Three laser altimeters were also deployed from the platform in a 2-meter triangle to collect information on the underlying wave field. Data collection from these arrays began in early August 2004.

OHATS brings together researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the Pennsylvania State University (PSU), and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). NCAR investigators are funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) as well as NSF. Collectively, these researchers have experience and interest in wind-wave coupling, surface-layer turbulence, turbulent flux measurements, and large-eddy simulation (LES).