WHOI Hawaii Ocean Timeseries Station (WHOTS): WHOTS-5 2008 Mooring Turnaround Cruise Report
Abstract
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Hawaii Ocean Timeseries (HOT) Site (WHOTS), 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 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 outfitted for meteorological and oceanographic measurements at a site near 22.75 deg N, 158 deg W by successive mooring turnarounds. These observations will be used to investigate air-sea interaction processes related to climate variability. This report documents recovery of the WHOTS-4 mooring and deployment of the fifth mooring (WHOTS-5). 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 satellite the surface meteorological variables. The upper 155 m of the moorings were outfitted with oceanographic sensors for the measurement of temperature, conductivity and velocity. A pCO2 system was installed on the WHOTS-5 buoy. The WHOTS mooring turnaround was done on the University of Hawaii research vessel Kilo Moana. The cruise took place between 3 and 11 June 2008. Operations began with deployment of the WHOTS-5 mooring on 5 June at approximately 22 deg 46.1'N, 157 deg 54.1 W in 4702 m of water. This was followed by meteorological intercomparisons and CTDs at the WHOTS-4 site. A period of calmer weather was taken advantage of to recover WHOTS-4 on 6 June 2008. The Kilo Moana then returned to the WHOTS-5 mooring for CTD operations and meteorological intercomparisons. This report describes these cruise operations, as well as some of the in-port operations and pre-cruise buoy preparations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA502874
Entities
People
- Chris Sabine
- Fernando Santiago-mandujano
- Frank Bahr
- Jason Smith
- Jeffrey Lord
- Jeffrey Snyder
- Nan Galbraith
- Paul Bouchard
- Paul Lethaby
- Robert A. Weller
- Roger Lukas
- Sean P. Whelan
Organizations
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution