Line W

Ship

R/V Atlantis

Vehicles

Cruise Party

Ruth Curry: Principal Investigator
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Clark 354, MS#21 Woods Hole, Ma. USA 02543
+1 508 289 2799
rcurry@whoi.edu

John Toole: Chief Scientist
Organization Name USA
+1 508 289 2531
jtoole@whoi.edu

Departure: Woods Hole on Oct 9, 2010

Arrival: Woods Hole on Oct 24, 2010

Supporting documentation:

»HRP2_atsea.pdf
»HRP_operation_summary_montgomery.pdf
»LineW_stamap.jpg
»W_station_pos.txt

Operations Area: North West Atlantic

Lat/Lon: 40° 30.0′ N / 70° 12.0′ W

Depth Range: 0 / 5300

Will the vessel be operating within 200 NM of a foreign country? Bermuda
Are visas or special travel documents required? no

Science objectives

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). The field program has been operating since 2004 and includes a 6-element array of instruments situated down the continental slope south of Woods Hole and is augmented by yearly occupations of a hydrographic section along this line extending toward Bermuda.  The moored array, which utilizes McLane profilers, current meters plus T/C sensors, is designed to quantify changes in DWBC / Gulf Stream water properties, stratification (potential vorticity) and transport. Shipboard observations using CTD, LADCP and discrete sampling for salinity, oxygen, CFCs, SF₆ and I¹²⁹ measure the water column properties at high spatial resolution to help verify that the array resolves interannual signals.  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.

Science Activities

Recover and deploy 6 subsurface moorings.
Conduct 26 CTD/rosette casts.
Test the High Resolution Profiler (HRP2) which includes deployment/recovery of this untethered free-falling instrument package.

Pre-cruise planning meeting: Visit WHOI

Some combination of John, Ruth, and Scott Worrilow will attend the pre-cruise planning meeting
Media personnel on board: Video
To be determined (at this time). We were asked to save room for 1 or 2 media/outreach people, if possible.

Stations:

Funding Agency: NSF #OCE-0726720

- added NSF #OCE-0726720 on Jul 28, 2010 3:33 PM by
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R/V Atlantis

Shipboard Equipment

Bathymetry System 12 kHz
ADCP 75 kHz
Deionized Water System
Navigation - Heading

CTD/Water Sampling

911+ Rosette 24-position, 10-liter bottle Rosette with dual T/C sensors
SBE43 oxygen sensor

Critical CTD Sensors: 

CTD-Related Equipment

Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (LADCP)

Hydrographic Analysis Equipment

Oxygen Sample Bottles (available in 150 ml sizes)
Salinometer
Salt Bottles (2 cases of 125 ml provided)

MET Sensors

Barometric Pressure
Air temperature
Relative Humidity
Wind speed and direction

Sample Storage

Freezer -70°C 3.2 cu. ft. ea.

Navigation

Will you be using Long Base Line (LBL) navigation? no

Will you be using Ultra-short baseline (USBL) navigation for other than Alvin operations? no

Winches

CTD Winch with .322" Electro-mechanical wire
Mooring / TSE winch

Slip ring required? no	Number of conductors:
Non-standard wire required? no	Type:
Traction winch required? no	Describe:

Other Science Vans:

Specialized Deck Equipment

Mooring Deployment/Recovery Equipment Required: no	Type:
Cruise Specific Science Winch Required: no	Type:
Nets Required: no	Type:

Over the Side Equipment

Will you be bringing any equipment (winches, blocks, etc.) that lowers instruments over the side? yes

Details: The system for deploying/recovering HRP-II includes: a rolling cart on which the HRP-II is secured while on deck, track that is bolted to the deck, and a hydraulic lifting rig that pivots to move the lift point beyond the ship’s stern, so the HRP-II can be deployed and recovered without damage due to collisions with the ship (see supporting document HRP2_atsea.pdf).

Special Requirements

Elecrical Power: no	Identify:
Equipment Handling: no	Identify:
Inter/intraship Communications: no	Identify:
Science Stowage: no	Identify:
Water: no	Identify:

Additional Cruise Items/Activities

Explosive Devices: no Portable Air Compressors: no Flammable Gases: no

Small Boat Operations: no SCUBA Diving Operations: no

Hazardous Material

Will hazardous material be utilized? yes

Radioactive Material

Radioiosotopes: no

Additional Information

Is night time work anticipated on this cruise? yes

Specialized tech support (Seabeam, coring, other): 

Other required equipment and special needs: 
Date Submitted: Jul 28, 2010 4:15 PM