Line W

Located on the continental slope south of New England (near 40ºN, 70ºW) Line W is one component of a long-term climate observing system that is positioned to quantify variability in the deep limb of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC). Combining an array of moored instruments with shipboard observations, Line W is designed to directly measure the time dependence of volume transport, advection of property anomalies, and propagation of topographic Rossby waves and boundary waves in the equatorward flowing deep western boundary current (DWBC). These measurements are key to clarifying the deep ocean response to variability in high-latitude air-sea exchanges and, ultimately, the ocean's role in global climate variability through changes in its transport of heat and freshwater.

Line W was initiated in October 2001 with the establishment of the Station W mooring at 39N 69W, thanks to the generous support of The G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation.

Line W is presently sponsored by The National Science Foundation

Line W is named in memory of Val Worthington, an oceanographer at Woods Hole who devoted a considerable part of his career to measuring and understanding the properties and flows in the Gulf Stream region.