CLIVAR Mode Water Dynamics Experiment (CLIMODE) fall 2005, R/V Oceanus voyage 419, November 9, 2005–November 27, 2005

Abstract

CLIMODE (CLIVAR Mode Water Dynamic Experiment) is a program designed to understand and quantify the processes responsible for the formation and dissipation of North Atlantic subtropical mode water, also called Eighteen Degree Water (EDW). Among these processes, the amount of buoyancy loss at the ocean-atmosphere interface is still uncertain and needs to be accurately quantified. In November 2005, a cruise was made aboard R/V Oceanus in the region of the separated Gulf Stream, where intense oceanic heat loss to the atmosphere is believed to trigger the formation of EDW. During that cruise, one surface mooring with IMET meteorological instruments was anchored in the core of the Gulf Stream as well as two moored profilers on its southeastern edge. Surface drifters, APEX floats and bobby RAFOS floats were also deployed along with two other moorings with sound sources. CTD profiles and water samples were also carried out. This array of instruments will permit a characterization of EDW with high spatial and temporal resolutions, and accurate in-situ measurements of air-sea fluxes in the formation region. The present report documents this cruise, the instruments that were deployed and the array of measurements that was set in place.