challenging issues of detection and characterization of internal waves, as well as their dynamics in straits and remote archipelagos where the deployment of in situ sensors may not be feasible. "Internal waves in straits are generated by the interaction of tidal currents with sills in straits when the water is stratified by temperature and salinity," said Graber. "When the wave trough of the internal tide travels faster than the crest, the wave steepens and transforms into an internal bore, which finally evolves into large solitary-wave packets some distance away. These wave packets are readily visible by satellite from space. Our ultimate goal is to assist in determining where these internal waves are generated and at what frequency and intensity so we can better predict the propagation and scattering of sound in these complicated geographic regions. Graber and other scientists will also participate in ONR's newest research initiative on an improved understanding of the impact of typhoons on the Western Pacific Oceans. Using funding from a Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) award the Rosenstiel team will be building two more air-sea interaction spar (ASIS) buoys for deployment in the path of typhoons. The ASIS buoys will be paired with Drennan's extreme air-sea interaction (EASI) buoy to measure ocean waves and the turbulence properties of surface and nearsurface atmospheric and oceanic properties during the passage of typhoons and describe fluxes in and out of the water. These measured fluxes and sea state are critical parameters for numerical weather forecast and ocean wave models and help to improve prediction of tropical cyclone intensities.
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