THE LABRADOR SEA DEEP CONVECTION EXPERIMENT

In the autumn of 1996 the field component of an experiment designed to observe water mass transformation began in the Labrador Sea. Intense observations of ocean convection were taken in the following two winte rs. The purpose of the experiment was, by a combination of meteorologi cal and oceanographic field observations, laboratory studies, theory, and modeling, to improve understanding of the convective process in th e ocean and its representation in models. The dataset that has been ga thered far exceeds previous efforts to observe the convective process anywhere in the ocean, both in its scope and range of techniques deplo yed. Combined with a comprehensive set of meteorological and air-sea f lux measurements, it is giving unprecedented insights into the dynamic s and thermodynamics of a closely coupled, semienclosed system known t o have direct influence on the processes that control global climate.