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SPURing a New View of Salinity

April 1, 2017

Researchers on the 2014 SPURS expedition aboard the research vessel Knorr (far right) release an autonomous glider from a small boat on a mission to study salinity and micro-scale mixing of the ocean near the “salinity maximum” region of the tropical North Atlantic. Gliders generate forward momentum by changing their buoyancy to literally glide through the ocean. Their low-power design makes them ideal for missions lasting weeks or months with little or no intervention. Gliders on this mission were used to gather data beyond the footprint of three moorings moorings and give scientists a broader view of how changes in sea-surface salinity are linked to changes in the global water cycle. (Photo by Alec Bogdanoff, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)