A Pioneering Mission

Crew aboard R/V Knorr recover a surface buoy from the Pioneer Array, a network of moorings and autonomous underwater vehicles outfitted with sensors and communications equipment that collect real-time, long-term data on the physical and chemical properties of the ocean. Located on the continental slope south of Cape Cod, where the coastal waters mix with the deep sea, the Pioneer Array is one of two coastal installations in the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative. During Pioneer’s second infrastructure cruise in April 2014, WHOI’s Mooring Operations and Engineering group deployed and recovered a number of moorings in order to validate their operation. (Photo by John Lund, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)