Drawing on fine-scale surface dynamics observed during a large drifter experiment in the Western Mediterranean Sea, a recent study assessed the quality of SWOT sea level measurements acquired during the 1-day repeat orbit phase. This work establishes a benchmark for extending SWOT sea level assessments to the global ocean.
After a port call in Port-Mahon, R/V L'Atalante headed North under SWOT swath to survey a front with Lagrangian buoys and cytometer.
Last week-end, after ten days of companion navigation, the R/V L'Atalante and the R/V Tethys II met in Mahon (Minorca) for a joint port call. These two experiments at sea are part of a wider observation strategy concomitant with the fast-sampling phase of SWOT satellite. They are focused on an area characterized by small mesoscale structure (O(40km)) in a weak internal wave environment more prone to exhibit clear mesoscale signal.
In the ocean, the water column is characterized by many parameters such as density, temperature, salinity, number of particles or chlorophyll, pressure... All these parameters are modulated by local currents. Therefore, it is necessary to collect data at certain fixed positions to study the properties of the water column. For this purpose, two specific measuring devices have been deployed at common locations to collect information on the water column.
On Tuesday March 29th, the R/V Tethys II joined the C-SWOT campaign and will provide measurements in parallel with R/V Atalante until the end of the cruise.
On Saturday March 26th, the R/V L’Atalante started a first transect of the Gulf of Lion, from Marseille to Menorca. The plan was to deploy a towed instrument, the SeaSoar, together with acoustic Doppler velocimeters on the ship. The SeaSoar is equipped with Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) probes. Mechanically, it is able to tilt its wings to dive up and down profiling the water column up to 400m depth. The data are collected in real time through
C-SWOT campaign already started few days ago, and since Toulon we already sampled the Cassidaigne canyon offshore Marseille and its beautiful cliffs at sunset. We did not count working hours to sample the canyon, but lots of measurements were obtained and the view was worth it !
The first part of the C-SWOT campaign is dedicated to measurements in the Cassidaigne submarine canyon, located in the Gulf of Lion, Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, 7 km off Marseilles. By Lénaïg Brun Presentation of the Cassidaigne canyon The Cassidaigne submarine canyon is located in a very active circulation area. First, the water masses are forced by strong westerly (Mistral) or easterly wind events which may generate upwelling or downwelling processes in the canyon. Second, the Northern Current,
C-SWOT is joint cooperative mission between SHOM and Ifremer, that plans to first study the Cassidaigne Canyon just offshore Marseille, and then sail between Marseille and Menorca right under the SWOT satellite swath.