CROSS-SHELF HEAT FLUX AND TEMPERATURE VARIABILITY ON THE CALIFORNIA INNER SHELF
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Authors
Freismuth, Thomas M., Jr.
Subjects
inner shelf
cross-shore heat flux
temperature variability
nearshore
internal tide bores
coastal oceanography
heat budget
subtidal
diurnal
semidiurnal
cross-shore heat flux
temperature variability
nearshore
internal tide bores
coastal oceanography
heat budget
subtidal
diurnal
semidiurnal
Advisors
Thornton, Edward B.
MacMahan, James H.
Colosi, John A.
Montgomery, Michael T.
Orescanin, Mara S.
Date of Issue
2018-09
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
The inner continental shelf is generally defined as the region from the edge of depth-limited wave breaking to water depths of tens of meters. It is an important region because it is the connection between the coastal ocean and the surf zone. During the summer of 2015 and 2017, two major field experiments were conducted to study water temperature and currents along the central California inner shelf. A headland-and-bay topography characterizes the field site with stretches of sandy or rocky coastlines and two headlands. Vertical profiles of co-located ocean temperature and currents were obtained in a dense cross-shore array from the 50- to the 5-m isobaths during the 2015 experiment. During the 2017 field experiment, vertical profiles of temperatures were obtained in an alongshore array on the 9-m isobath that spanned 55 km of coastline. The results show the contributions from coastal upwelling, sea breeze-driven processes, and semidiurnal internal waves to the net transport of heat onto the inner shelf. The first observations of warm internal tide bores propagating to the surf zone, and the spatial and temporal scales of the temperature variability over 55 km of coastline are discussed. The Office of Naval Research funded this research.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Oceanography
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NPS Report Number
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Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.