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Marine Operations in the Gulf of Mexico
A group of marine operators are involved in activites that require precise positioning
of their ships and equipment. They also require ocean conditions that make it possible to
stay on location for a period of time. Marine operators with these needs
include oil and gas exploration drillers, scientists obtaining cores of the ocean floor
and ships that lay fibre optic cable.
Eddies are ocean features that these operators need to avoid especialy if
they operate in the Gulf of Mexico where
very powerful eddies exist, spawned by the Loop Current
which circulates through the Gulf. These eddies, spawned about once a year, are hazardous
because the associated currents can exceed x knots (x meters/sec).
Shear at the eddy boundaries can be considerable and keeping a
ship on a precise location in an eddy can be very difficualt or impossible.
Eddies can be detected easily in sea surface height data, as they
produce 'hills' of water over 30 cm above average sea level. Currents
can be infered from the data and, when combined with other data including sea surface temperatures,
the resultant maps are a very useful tool.
Altimeter products with heights and current, designed to meet the needs of these mariners, are produced by the
University of Colorado Images
from the University of Colorado are used by analysts such as Jenifer Clark to produce
blended products.
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