The Labrador Sea deep convection experiment.

(Marshall, J and Dobson, F and Moore, K and Rhines, P and Visbeck, M and d’Asaro, E and Bumke, K and Chang, S and Davis, R and Fischer, K and Garwood, R and Guest, P and Harcourt, R and Herbaut, C and Holt, T and Lazier, J and Legg, S and McWilliams, J and Pickart, R and Prater, M and Renfrew, I and Schott, F and Send, U and Smethie, W and Lab Sea Grp), BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, vol. 79, no. 10, pp. pages, 1998.

Abstract

In the autumn of 1996 the field component of an experiment designed to observe water mass transformation began in the Labrador Sea. Intense observations of ocean convection were taken in the following two winters. The purpose of the experiment was, by a combination of meteorological and oceanographic field observations, laboratory studies, theory, and modeling, to improve understanding of the convective process in the ocean and its representation in models. The dataset that has been gathered far exceeds previous efforts to observe the convective process anywhere in the ocean, both in its scope and range of techniques deployed. Combined with a comprehensive set of meteorological and air-sea flux measurements, it is giving unprecedented insights into the dynamics and thermodynamics of a closely coupled, semi-enclosed system known to have direct influence on the processes that control global climate.