FASINEX Frontal Air-Sea Interaction Experiment (January-June 1986) : summaries for FASINEX mooring cruises; phase one: R/V KNORR Cruise 119, phase three: RV/KNORR Cruise 123

Abstract

The Frontal Air-Sea Interaction Experiment (FASINEX) was a study of the response of the upper ocean to atmospheric forcing in the vicinity of an oceanic front in the subtropical convergence zone southwest of Bermuda, the response of the lower atmosphere in that vicinity to the oceanic front, and the associated two-way interaction between ocean and atmosphere. FASINEX began in the winter (January 1986) , concluded in the early summer (June 1986) and included an intensive period in February and March. The experiment took place in the vicinity of 27°N, 70°W where sea-surface-temperature fronts are climatologically common. Measurements were made from buoys, ships, aircraft and spacecraft. This report summarizes the mooring deployment and recovery cruises. FASINEX Phase One, the deployment cruise, located a frontal feature, mapped it and set an array of surface and Profiling Current Meters moorings across the front. Phase Three, the recovery cruise returned to the FASINEX area to retrieve the instrumentation that had been on station for six months. Additional measurements were made in the frontal region during these cruises. The activities carried out and the underway data collected on these two cruises, details of the moored array and a preliminary statement of the data return from the array, and the data telemetered from the moored array via ARGOS are summarized in this report.