SKIM - WaCM: common goals and actions discussed at a meeting in La Jolla, April 18 and 19.

A group of ocean current enthusiast met at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography april 18 and 19. Most people were here for the Wind and Current Mission (WaCM ... be careful the name may change), a NASA proposal that fits in the latest decadal survey. SKIM-PI Fabrice Ardhuin was there to present SKIM and discuss the many synergies between the the SKIM mission and the "WaCM" (or "not WaCM") proposal: what are the space and time scales of surface currents? What fraction of it is mapped by altimeters? What is really the "surface current"? How does a Doppler radar sees the surface at different incidence angles? What are the specific coastal applications for winds and currents?  What can we say on tropical dynamics or vertical fluxes of nutrients?  What is unique to wind+current measurements with a wide-swath WaCM vs SKIM that is more oriented towards currents and waves with a narrower swath?

All these questions - and more -  were addressed ...  But your question may be "So where are all these people?" Well, they are working and debating currents ... just inside of Martin Johnson house...  debating the latest papers and ongoing studies