Description and evaluation of the Acoustic Profiling of Ocean Currents (APOC) System used on R.V. Oceanus cruise 96 on May 11-22, 1981
Description and evaluation of the Acoustic Profiling of Ocean Currents (APOC) System used on R.V. Oceanus cruise 96 on May 11-22, 1981
Date
1982-11
Authors
Joyce, Terrence M.
Rintoul, Stephen R.
Barbour, R. Lorraine
Rintoul, Stephen R.
Barbour, R. Lorraine
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DOI
10.1575/1912/9102
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Keywords
Acoustic imaging
Ocean currents
Ocean currents
Abstract
The underway current profiling system used in this study consists of
a microprocessor-controlled data logger that collects and formats data
from a four-beam Ametek-Straza 300 kHz acoustic Doppler current profiler,
heading from the ship's gyrocompass, and navigation information from a
Loran-C receiver and a satellite navigation unit. Data are recorded on
magnetic tape and some real time calculations are made. The system was
first used on a May, 1981 cruise aboard the R.V. OCEANUS in the western
North Atlantic. Horizontal currents were profiled to depths of 100m.
Time averaging is required to remove effects of ship motion. Errors in
our ability to profile ocean currents are estimated to be 5-10 em s-1 for
a ten-minute vector average. An intercomparison is made with a moored
vector measuring current meter (VMCM). The mean difference in hourly-averaged
APOC and VMCM currents over the four-hour intercomparison is a
few mm s-1. Data from a variety of oceanic regimes are presented and
discussed: these regimes include two Gulf Stream crossings, a warm core
ring survey, and shallow water in a frontal zone to the east of Nantucket
Shoals.
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Citation
Joyce, T. M., Rintoul, S. R., & Barbour, R. L. (1982). Description and evaluation of the Acoustic Profiling of Ocean Currents (APOC) System used on R.V. Oceanus cruise 96 on May 11-22, 1981. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/9102