WHOI Hawaii Ocean Timeseries Station (WHOTS) : WHOTS-14 2017 mooring turnaround cruise report

Abstract

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Hawaii Ocean Time-series Station (WHOTS), located approximately 100 km north of Oahu, Hawaii, is intended to provide long-term, high-quality air-sea fluxes as a part of the NOAA Climate Observation Program. The WHOTS mooring also serves as a coordinated part of the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) program, contributing to the goals of observing heat, fresh water and chemical fluxes at a site representative of the oligotrophic North Pacific Ocean. The approach is to maintain a surface mooring instrumented for meteorological and oceanographic measurements at a site near 22.75°N, 158°W by successive mooring turnarounds. These observations are used to investigate air–sea interaction processes related to climate variability. This report documents recovery of the thirteenth WHOTS mooring (WHOTS-13) and deployment of the fourteenth mooring (WHOTS-14). Both moorings used Surlyn foam buoys as the surface element and were outfitted with two Air–Sea Interaction Meteorology (ASIMET) systems. Each ASIMET system measures, records, and transmits via Argos and Iridium satellite the surface meteorological variables necessary to compute air–sea fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum. The upper 155 m of the moorings were outfitted with oceanographic sensors for the measurement of temperature, conductivity and velocity in a cooperative effort with Dr. Roger Lukas of the University of Hawaii. A pCO2 system and ancillary sensors were installed on the buoys in cooperation with Adrienne J. Sutton at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The WHOTS mooring turnaround was conducted on the NOAA ship Hi’ialakai (R/V HA). Operations were a joint effort undertaken by the Upper Ocean Processes group (UOP) of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Hawaii’s (UH) Hawaii Ocean Time-series group (HOT), and the able-bodied crew of R/V HA. The cruise took place between 25 July and August 3 2017. Operations began with deployment of the WHOTS-14 mooring on 27 July. This was followed by a period of intercomparison, where meteorological measurements and CTDs were collected at both the W13 and W14 stations. Recovery of the WHOTS-13 mooring took place on 31 July. This report details the in-port operations, pre-cruise buoy preparations, cruise operations and data collected.