Hydrography, current and microstructure measurements from R/V Håkon Mosby cruise HM2012610 to the Faroe Bank Channel overflow region

This data set includes the profiling measurements collected from ship during the cruise HM 2012610 onboard the Research Vessel Håkon Mosby. The cruise was conducted under the project entitled "Faroe Bank Channel Overflow: Dynamics and Mixing Research", with an objective to investigate the mixing and entrainment of the dense oceanic overflow from the Faroe Bank Channel. The profiling measurements delivered with this data set include conventional conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) measurements, current profile measurements using a lowered acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (LADCP) system and ocean microstructure measurements using a vertical microstructure profiler (VMP2000). The observational programme was designed to measure turbulence and mixing in the overflow plume which, in addition to the shear-induced mixing at the plume-ambient interface, is hypothesized to be influenced by several processes including mesoscale eddies, secondary circulation and internal waves.

Continuous VM-ADCP (vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler) profiles of horizontal velocities and raw acoustic gain control data during Polarstern cruise ANT-XVIII/2

The mixing regime of the upper 180 m of a mesoscale eddy in the vicinity of the Antarctic Polar Front at 47° S and 21° E was investigated during the R.V. Polarstern cruise ANT-XVIII/2 within the scope of the iron fertilization experiment EisenEx. On the basis of hydrographic CTD and ADCP profiles we deduced the vertical diffusivity Kz from two different parameterizations. Since these parameterizations bear the character of empirical functions, based on theoretical and idealized assumptions, they were inter alia compared with Cox-number and Thorpe-scale related diffusivities deduced from microstructure measurements, which supplied the first direct insights into turbulence of this ocean region. Values of Kz in the range of 10**-4 - 10**-3 m**2/s appear as a rather robust estimate of vertical diffusivity within the seasonal pycnocline. Values in the mixed layer above are more variable in time and reach 10**-1 m**2/s during periods of strong winds. The results confirm a close agreement between the microstructure-based eddy diffusivities and eddy diffusivities calculated after the parameterization of Pacanowski and Philander [1981, Journal of Physical Oceanography 11, 1443-1451, doi:10.1175/1520-0485(1981)011<1443:POVMIN>2.0.CO;2].