Image

Critical Detail

In 2012, a pair of autonomous gliders, each equipped with a MicroRider instrument package, were deployed during the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS) cruise. The expedition traveled to the North Atlantic’s saltiest spot to get a detailed, 3-D picture of how salt content fluctuates in the ocean’s upper layers and how these variations are related to shifts in rainfall patterns around the planet. The MicroRiders detect the fine structure of turbulence patterns in the ocean, a critical feature that scientists need to know in order to understand how much saline surface water mixes into fresher water below. One glider covered the upper 230 feet (70 meters), while the other ventured to 660 feet (200 meters). (Photo by Ken Decoteau, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)