Abstract

Images of cross-shelf fronts of ocean color parameters and SST of the South Atlantic Bight area from the Terra MODIS satellite sensors are analyzed. The ocean color parameters (attenuation coefficient K-490 and suspended solid concentration) and SST clearly indicate a penetrating front originating from the coastal water within the inner shelf. The front is triangular shaped with its broad base on the coast and its sharp end penetrating into the outer shelf merging into the Gulf Stream, depicting a passage of coastal water transport across the entire shelf. The horizontal Ekman number was estimated to be outside the limit of baroclinic instability. Considering the fact that the front is always originated from the coast, rather than from the edge of the Gulf Stream (due to, e.g. shear or other type of instability), this suggests that the process is deterministic. Thus the water transport passage may play a significant role in a non-diffusive transport process of heat and land-derived biogeochemical materials.

Biographical Sketch

Chunyan Li got his Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China, Master of Science degree in Physical Oceanography from the Institute of Oceanology, Academy of Science of China, and Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Connecticut in 1996. He worked at CCPO for 3+ years after graduation from UConn and is now working at the Coastal Studies Institute, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University. His current research interests include coastal and estuarine transport processes and fronts using in situ observations, remote sensing, and mathematical modeling. He was an 85% theoretician prior to his Ph.D. degree and became much more involved in observations during his time at CCPO. He is now particularly interested in observations using a combination of methods to describe the fine structures of the ocean circulation.

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