Turbulent Energy Dissipation in the Atlantic Equatorial Undercurrent

A free-fall oceanographic instrument has been used to measure vertical microstructure scale gradients of horizontal velocity, temperature and electrical conductivity. The velocity gradients, or shears, were measured at scales between 3 and 40 cm by an airfoil shear probe whose specifications and calibration procedure are discussed. Data collected in the equatorial Atlantic in July 1974 indicated a consistent pattern of turbulence near the velocity core of the Atlantic Equatorial Undercurrent. (The velocity core is the region of maximum speed).