Stratus Ocean Reference Station (20˚S, 85˚W) : mooring recovery and deployment cruise, R/V Ronald H. Brown Cruise 06-07, October 9–October 27, 2006
Stratus Ocean Reference Station (20˚S, 85˚W) : mooring recovery and deployment cruise, R/V Ronald H. Brown Cruise 06-07, October 9–October 27, 2006
Date
2007-02
Authors
Bigorre, Sebastien P.
Weller, Robert A.
Lord, Jeffrey
Whelan, Sean P.
Galbraith, Nancy R.
Wolfe, Dan
Bariteau, Ludovic
Ghate, Virendra P.
Zajaczkovski, Uriel
Vera, Alvaro
Maenner, Stacy
Hoyt, Brett
Weller, Robert A.
Lord, Jeffrey
Whelan, Sean P.
Galbraith, Nancy R.
Wolfe, Dan
Bariteau, Ludovic
Ghate, Virendra P.
Zajaczkovski, Uriel
Vera, Alvaro
Maenner, Stacy
Hoyt, Brett
Linked Authors
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Person
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Citable URI
As Published
Date Created
Location
20°S, 85°W
Chile
Chile
DOI
10.1575/1912/1565
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Keywords
STRATUS
Upper ocean
Air-sea interaction
Ronald H. Brown (Ship) Cruise RB06-07
Upper ocean
Air-sea interaction
Ronald H. Brown (Ship) Cruise RB06-07
Abstract
The Ocean Reference Station at 20°S, 85°W under the stratus clouds west of northern Chile is being maintained to provide ongoing,
climate-quality records of surface meteorology, of air-sea fluxes of heat, freshwater, and momentum, and of upper ocean temperature,
salinity, and velocity variability. The Stratus Ocean Reference Station (ORS Stratus) is supported by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Climate Observation Program. It is recovered and redeployed annually, with cruises that have
come between October and December.
During the October 2006 cruise of NOAA's R/V Ronald H. Brown to the ORS Stratus site, the primary activities where recovery of the
Stratus 6 WHOI surface mooring that had been deployed in October 2005, deployment of a new (Stratus 7) WHOI surface mooring at that
site, in-situ calibration of the buoy meteorological sensors by comparison with instrumentation pub on board by staff of the NOAA Earth
System Research Laboratory (ESRL, formerly ETL), and observations of the stratus clouds and lower atmosphere by NOAA ESRL. A
buoy for the Pacific tsunami warning system was also serviced in collaboration with the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the
Chilean Navy (SHOA). The old DART (Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami) buoy was recovered and a new one deployed
which carried IMET sensors and subsurface oceanographic instruments. Argo floats and drifters were also launched and CTD casts
carried out during the cruise. The ORS Stratus buoys are equipped with two Improved Meteorological (IMET) systems, which provide
surface wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, incoming shortwave radiation, incoming
longwave radiation, precipitation rate, and sea surface temperature. The IMET data are made available in near real time using satellite
telemetry. The mooring line carries instruments to measure ocean salinity, temperature, and currents. The ESRL instrumentation used
during the 2006 cruise included cloud radar, radiosonde balloons, and sensors for mean and turbulent surface meteorology. Stratus 7 also
received a new addition to its set of sensors: a partial CO2 detector from the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). Aerosol
measurements were also carried out onboard RHB by personnel of the University of Hawaii. Finally, the cruise hosted a teacher
participating in NOAA's Teacher at Sea Program.
Description
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Citation
Bigorre, S., Weller, R., Lord, J., Whelan, S., Galbraith, N., Wolfe, D., Bariteau, L., Ghate, V., Zajaczkovski, U., Vera, A., Maenner, S., & Hoyt, B. (2007). Stratus Ocean Reference Station (20°S, 85°W): mooring recovery and deployment cruise, R/V Ronald H. Brown Cruise 06-07, October 9–October 27, 2006. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/1565