Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Cruise Planning Synopsis


SDOTS-Kirincich NE mid shelf

Ship

R/V Tioga

Cruise Party

Anthony Kirincich: Chief Scientist, Principal Investigator
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Clark 343c, MS#21 Woods Hole, Ma. USA 02543
+1 508 289 2629
akirincich@whoi.edu

Departure: May 21, 2018

WHOI dock

Arrival: May 23, 2018

WHOI dock

Operations Area

South of Martha's Vineyard, over the mid-shelf
Lat/Lon: 41° 0.0′ N / 71° 0.0′ W
Depth Range: 40 / 50
Will the vessel be operating within 200 NM of a foreign country? no

Science Objectives

To observe and diagnose the coastal mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics over the middle part of the New England Shelf (NES), identifying their role in driving exchange across the shelf. 

Science Activities

Our approach pairs remote and in situ observations of the NES to characterize SMC variability and quantify across-shelf ex- changes with process modeling studies to explore the mecha- nisms of the SMCs. The field program will utilize a novel land- based HF radar system geared towards high spatial resolution in complex flow conditions. Deployments of autonomous surface vehicles around a centralized mooring array will provide obser- vations of critical vertical and horizontal gradients of density and velocity over a seasonal cycle. 

The in situ components include:

(1) A trio of simple hydrographic surface moorings and one subsurface mooring will be deployed in the center of the HF radar coverage area (i.e. Fig. 8) for two 6- month periods starting in spring 2018 to collect detailed timeseries of horizontal and vertical temperature and salinity gradients, local meteorological forcing, and velocity profiles over a full annual cycle of NES stratification, surface forcing, and flow conditions. The central surface mooring will sample meteorological observations using a Vaisala WXT520 weather station and water column hydrography using 11 temperature/conductivity (CT) sensors (SBE37 Microcats). A nearby subsurface mooring will support upward- and downward-looking T-RDI ADCPs to collect high resolution velocity profiles of the top 10 m and coarser resolution velocity profiles of the lower 40 m of the water column, as well as a Seagauge to observe bottom pressure. The two additional surface moorings, each with 6-8 CT sensors, will be located 6 km away from the central mooring in both the across- and along-shelf directions to allow estimates of the depth-dependent lateral hydrographic gradients and fluxes.  

(2) Two WHOI-owned, Liquid Robotics Wave Glider autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) will be deployed for 4-months during each of the two mooring periods. Outfitted with AirMar 2-axis sonic anemometers, SeaBird CT sensors at water depths of 0.3 and 6.5-m, and speed sensors, the ASVs will follow pre-determined regular survey patterns, focused on resolving horizontal gradients of temperature and salinity within the surface layer at multiple scales around the mooring locations

 

Additional Info

Pre-cruise Planning Meeting: Visit WHOI

Stations:

Supporting documentation:

Funding

Funding Agency: NSF
Grant or contract number: 1736930

Scientific Instrumentation for R/V Tioga

Shipboard Equipment

ADCP 300 kHz
Flow Through System (14.5 gpm)

MET Sensors

Air temperature

Equipment Deployment

What type of equipment will you deploy?
Moorings and Wave gliders
What are the dimensions?
medium sized.3
What is the weight in air?
500-1000 lbs

Hazardous Material

Will hazardous material be utilized?no
Describe deployment method and quantity:

Additional Information

Brief operations description or comments:
Other required equipment and special needs:

Checklist & Notes

Checklist

U.S. Customs Form: no
Diplomatic Clearance: no
Date Submitted:
Date Approved:
Agent Information:
Countries:
Notes:
Isotope Use Approval: no
Isotope Notes:
SCUBA Diving: no

Checklist

SSSG Tech: