Close Encounter

The research vessel Neil Armstrong makes a close approach to assess a surface mooring deployed in the Irminger Sea southeast of Greenland as a part of the NSF-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). The buoy uses batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines to power a number of meteorological sensors on its tower and oceanographic sensors under the water. The mooring is part of the OOI Irminger Sea Array, located in a region with high wind, large waves, and strong atmosphere-ocean exchanges that help drive Earth’s “global ocean conveyor” circulation system. (Photo by James Kuo, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)