 Research Vessel Hi'iallakai |
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Contact: Chris Fairall
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WHOTS 2011 Research Cruise
July 15, 2011
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) Hawaii Ocean Time-series Station (WHOTS) research cruise was underway from 5-13 July 2011, out of Honolulu, HI. The main purpose of the cruise was to change out an Ocean Flux Reference site buoy. Aboard the NOAA Fisheries Research Vessel Hi'iallakai was a suite instruments deployed by ESRL's Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL), which collected high-quality meteorological observations. The PSL instrumentation, referred to as the Air-Sea Flux System, was used to characterize clouds in the region and perform a comparison of shipboard data with data from flux reference buoys to address general calibration issues.
In August 2004, the WHOTS project deployed a moored surface buoy instrumented with a full complement of meteorological sensors north of the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. The primary intent of WHOTS is to provide long-term, high-quality air-sea fluxes and observe heat, momentum, fresh water and chemical fluxes at a site representative of the oligotrophic North Pacific Ocean.
The Ocean Flux Reference sites and NOAA and University research vessels are the backbone of high-quality fluxes in the Ocean Observing system. PSL is working with WHOI in a long-term data quality assurance program. This was also the first deployment of the flux system on a NOAA Fisheries ship, which thus far has been an untapped resource for collecting climate observations over the ocean.