Pioneer-adjacent CPIESs: Characterizing Variability at High Temporal Resolution for Long Duration on the Continental Slope of the Southern Mid-Atlantic Bight

On the continental slope adjacent to the southern Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) shelf northeast of Cape Hatteras, the Gulf Stream–the North Atlantic subtropical western boundary current–separates from the continental margin and flows into the open ocean and the equatorward-flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) passes under the Gulf Stream. The separating Gulf Stream impacts shelf/ocean exchange processes.

As part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE)-funded RAPID project, two current- and pressure-sensor-equipped inverted echo sounders (CPIESs) were deployed on the 1000 m isobath from the R/V Roger Revelle (RR2407) at sites near the offshore edge of the relocated Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Coastal Pioneer Array. The CPIESs will remain on site for 4-year duration and are equipped with Popup Data Shuttles (PDSs) that return batches of data via satellite link at regular intervals throughout the deployment. The PDS-CPIESs are providing complementary observations for the Pioneer Array measurements and a robust data pathway has been established to share the batches of CPIES observations broadly with the research community and other stakeholders as soon as they are available after download via satellite.

PDS-CPIES

CPIESs measure round trip vertical acoustic travel time with bursts of 16 pings every 10 minutes and near-bottom pressure and current measurements every 30 minutes. The PDSs record hourly data and were scheduled to rise to the sea surface to return data batches remotely via satellite on Expected PDS data returns are on September 1 as follows. C1: 2024 and 2027; C2: 2024, 2026, 2025 and 2027. Instrument recoveries (with full 4-year datasets) are planned for 2028.

More about CPIES:https://web.uri.edu/gso/research/dynamics/inverted-echo-sounders/scientific-applications/

Key Words: Ocean observations, CPIESs, Gulf Stream, Pioneer Array, Ocean Observatories Initiative, Shelf/ocean exchange, Middle Atlantic Bight, Bottom pressure, Currents, Acoustic travel time

Authors: R. Hudak, M. Andres

References:

Perez, E., Enders, L., Andres, M., Gawarkiewicz, G., Hummon, J., Genz, A., Carvalho, N., Limoges, A., Pereira, Z., & Smith, J. (2024). RR2407 Cruise Report. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13198336

Andres, M., (2021). Spatial and temporal variability of the Gulf Stream near Cape Hatteras. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 126, e2021JC017579, https://doi.org/10.1029/ 2021JC017579

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