Fronts visible on the ocean’s surface exhibit a strong gradient in sea surface temperature (SST), visible in satellite SST data and chlorophyll-a distribution, allow scientists to study their effects on the global ocean. As a result, large currents such as the Gulf Stream are well characterized and imaged for a better understanding of north-south global heat exchange. Serious deviations from past observations in this timely and ongoing record of ocean circulation and temperature distribution serve as an alert to global climate change.

Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) placed on merchant vessels or ships of opportunity (most notably the MV Oleander—measuring the Gulf Stream) collect current data in the North Atlantic.

Many observations of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Southern Ocean, a system believed particularly sensitive to climate change, is a focus of GSO physical oceanographers and their month-long cruises to the Drake Passage.

Understanding the formation of loop current eddies in the Gulf of Mexico and transport in the deep water of the Gulf became important during the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Ten years of current measurements by GSO scientists help predict the transport of pollutants in the region.

Shipboard measurements, along with data from moored current and hydrographic sensors, offer GSO researchers insight into movements of seawater off the US East Coast. The US Coast Guard utilizes GSO’s 13-year surface current mapping system (CODAR) for the Block Island Sound region in its search and rescue operations.