SMILES is a combined observational and numerical modelling experiment funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) from 01 July 2014 to 30 June 2017. The main aim of the project is to improve our understanding of the role played by submesoscale processes at the subantarctic front in the Southern Ocean.
Participants
The SMILES project is a collaboration between a team of researchers from the following institutions -
- Stanford University
- Plymouth University
- Cambridge University
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory
- British Antarctic Survey
Fieldwork and data collection
SMILES research is investigating the dynamics of submesoscales from two perspectives; numerical modelling and observational measurements.
RRS James Clark Ross 311 was the research cruise conducted as the observational element of the SMILES project which aims to improve our understanding of submesoscale dynamics in regions characterised by strong fronts and where they impact on water mass transformation. For this reason, the field site was chosen to be the subantarctic front (SAF) to the east of Drake Passage where the Antarctic Circumpolar Current generates a pronounced front between the warmer subantarctic water to the north and the subpolar water to the south. To the north of the SAF, subantarctic mode water is formed through a process previously considered to be governed by air-sea interaction alone. SMILES aims to investigate the extent to which submesoscale dynamics at the SAF and the surrounding region may impact on, and potentially govern, this process of water mass transformation.
The cruise departed Stanley, Falkland Islands on 21 April 2015 and returned on 22 May 2015 having collected data using several surveying techniques e.g. towed CTDs, Seasoar surveying and lagrangian surveys.
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