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Endurance Array off Oregon

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Plan view map of the Endurance Array off Oregon. The Endurance mooring sites are at the 25 m, 80m, and 500m sites along the line off Newport. Gliders provide additional cross-shelf sampling and extend the sampling area north and south along the coast. The cables of the RSN are also shown.

Plan view map of the multi-scale Pioneer Array in the context of other regional observing elements.

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Plan view map of the multi-scale Pioneer Array in the context of other regional observing elements. A moored array will be centered at the shelf break in the Middle-Atlantic Bight south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. AUVs will sample the frontal region in the vicinity of the moored array, and gliders will resolve mesoscale features on the outer shelf and the slope sea between the shelf break front and the Gulf Stream.

Coastal-Scale Nodes

The coastal zone, with heat, nutrient, and saline fluxes, mass input, and topographical changes, plays a critical role in ocean physics, ecology, and biogeochemistry, and it is where human impact is felt most strongly. Yet, the coastal ocean is undersampled in space and time and across a range of physical, chemical, and biological variables.

Sustaining an advanced observing capability in coastal waters remains a challenge. The OOI’s Coastal Scale Nodes (CSN) fill this gap by providing sustained, but adaptable, access to complex coastal systems. Deploying and replicating the CSN infrastructure along the U.S. coasts in the coming decades will transform our observing capabilities and understanding of the coastal ocean.

The initial stage of the coastal observatory consists of two elements:
  • A long-term Endurance Array in the Eastern Pacific
    The Endurance Array is a long-term observatory of moored and mobile assets deployed across the continental shelf and slope to provide continuous observations at key locations, documenting episodic events and longer-term changes. The Endurance Array will complement existing and planned observatory and infrastructure in the region.
  • A relocatable Pioneer Array in the Western Atlantic
    The Pioneer Array will provide a more detailed, three-dimensional view of key biophysical interactions at the shelf break using a flexible, multiplatform array combining moored and mobile assets with high spatial and temporal resolution. With its initial location south of Cape Cod, the Pioneer Array will be embedded within an established regional observing system that will provide additional benefits and opportunities for coordination.