Our primary scientific focus is on directly measuring, for the first time, how vertical advection contributes to the heat balance in the pacific equatorial cold tongue region near 140W

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded $687,709 to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego on September 1, 2025, under the Climate and Atmospheric Research program (CFDA 11.431) to conduct direct measurements of vertical advection's contribution to heat balance in the Pacific equatorial cold tongue region near 140 degrees west. The project, extending through August 31, 2028, will deploy an array of six uncrewed wave gliders to measure vertical velocity profiles and temperature and salinity gradients across multiple length scales, resolving time scales from diurnal to seasonal variation. The wave glider array will enable quantification of horizontal advection and surface flux contributions to surface-layer heat budgets while simultaneously collecting detailed measurements of wave fields, surface radiation, and meteorological data necessary for accurate surface heat flux estimation.

This research directly addresses NOAA's Climate Program Office mandate to advance understanding of climate hazards and ocean processes through observational science. The work represents a novel observational approach to improving oceanographic understanding of equatorial Pacific dynamics, which has implications for climate prediction and ocean condition forecasting. Scripps will leverage its established capability in oceanographic research platforms and autonomous observing systems to deliver the measurement datasets and analytical products required under the award.

We will measure the vertical profile of vertical velocity and of temperature and salinity using an array of six uncrewed vehicles (wave gliders), which will allow US to estimate the gradients of temperature and velocity on multiple length scales, resolving time scales from diurnal to seasonal. Our array of wave gliders will also allow direct estimation of the contributions of the horizontal advection and the surface flux to the surface-layer heat budget. We will also make detailed measurements of the wave field, surface radiation and meteorological measurements adequate for making accurate estimates of the surface heat fluxes.