The Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station (NTAS) : NTAS-15 Mooring Turnaround Cruise Report cruise on board RV Endeavor January 25 - February 13, 2016 Narragansett RI, USA - San Juan, Puerto Rico

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2016-11Author
Bigorre, Sebastien P.
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Ryder, James R.
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Smith, Jason C.
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Lankhorst, Matthias
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https://hdl.handle.net/1912/8645Location
15°N, 51°WDOI
10.1575/1912/8645Abstract
The Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station (NTAS) was established to address the need for
accurate air-sea flux estimates and upper ocean measurements in a region with strong sea surface
temperature anomalies and the likelihood of significant local air–sea interaction on interannual to
decadal timescales. The approach is to maintain a surface mooring outfitted for meteorological
and oceanographic measurements at a site near 15°N, 51°W by successive mooring turnarounds.
These observations are used to investigate air–sea interaction processes related to climate
variability. The NTAS Ocean Reference Station (ORS NTAS) is supported by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Observation Program.
This report documents recovery of the NTAS-14 mooring and deployment of the NTAS-15
mooring at the same site. Both moorings used Surlyn foam buoys as the surface element. These
buoys were outfitted with two Air–Sea Interaction Meteorology (ASIMET) systems. Each
system measures, records, and transmits via Argos satellite the surface meteorological variables
necessary to compute air–sea fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum. The upper 160 m of the
mooring line were outfitted with oceanographic sensors for the measurement of temperature,
salinity and velocity.
The mooring turnaround was done by the Upper Ocean Processes Group of the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), onboard R/V Endeavor, Cruise EN573. The cruise took
place between January 25 and February 13 2016. The NTAS-15 mooring was deployed on
February 2, and the NTAS-14 mooring was recovered on February 4. A 24-hour intercomparison
period was conducted on February 5, during which data from the buoy, telemetered
through Argos satellite system, and the ship’s meteorological and oceanographic data were
monitored while the ship was stationed 0.2 nm downwind of NTAS-15 buoy. A similar
procedure was done at NTAS-14 but for only about 10 hours on the morning of February 4. This
report describes these operations, as well as other work done on the cruise and some of the precruise
buoy preparations.
Other operations during EN573 consisted in the recovery and deployment of the Meridional
Overturning Variability Experiment (MOVE) subsurface moorings array (MOVE 1 in the east,
and MOVE 3 and 4 in the west near Guadeloupe). Acoustic download of data from Pressure
Inverted Echo Sounders (PIES) was also conducted. MOVE is designed to monitor the integrated
deep meridional flow in the tropical North Atlantic.
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Suggested Citation
Bigorre, S. P., Ryder, J. R., Smith, J. C., & Lankhorst, M. (2016). The Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station (NTAS): NTAS-15 Mooring Turnaround Cruise Report cruise on board RV Endeavor January 25 - February 13, 2016 Narragansett RI, USA - San Juan, Puerto Rico. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/8645Related items
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