Endeavor Cruise Plan

From Endeavor Chief Scientist Ray Schmitt

SPURS cruise plan spring 2013 Endeavor cruise (Endeavor-522)

The basic constraints for the Endeavor cruise:

Dates: Depart Narragansett, RI, March 15 – Arrive Narragansett, RI, April 15, 32 days at sea

Distances: It is ~1950 nm from Narragansett to the WHOI mooring at 24° 34.9’ N , 38^o 0’ W, over 8 days of steaming both out and return, with weather delays likely in the NE Atlantic transit that time of year. This gives our working time on site of ~ two weeks.

Our tasks include:

Servicing the WHOI flux mooring to replace line and reset with a new anchor.

Servicing NOAA Prawler Mooring to replace the Prawler (PICO 3000).

Chase down and retrieve drifting Prawler Mooring (PICO 1000) if possible.

Retrieving three Seagliders and deploying their replacements.

Servicing three Wavegliders, inspect, repair, clean and redeploy.

Deploying UW Mixed Layer float and six surface drifters

Surveying with UCTD, CTD, ADCP

Microstructure measurements with T-Glider and tethered VMP profiler

Work with R/V Sarmiento during ASIP deployments.

My thinking is that we can spend roughly one week servicing assets, including moorings and gliders, about one week doing both a small “control volume” with repeat surveys around the mooring triangle while the T-Glider and Brian Ward’s profiler (ASIP) do several ~2-day time series, at least one of which will be near the WHOI flux mooring. Another upper ocean time series could be drifting near a feature of interest tagged with a surface drifter. Of course, we must always figure on some time lost to weather or chasing down the errant glider, but this is a general outline.

The control volume around the moorings will be done with the Under-Way CTD while steaming, ships ADCP, then tethered microstructure casts and/or CTD at the corners. We must keep the Sarmiento scientists apprised of glider and Wave Glider positions as they steam around with their Sea-Soar survey during the first half of the cruise. Similarly, we must keep apprised of the positions of the already deployed ML drifter and the drifting Prawler Mooring for retrieval. Endeavor would be the desirable retrieval ship for these assets for easiest return but Sarmiento may have to do it if either asset drifts too far to the east.

Draft SPURS Cruise Timeline for ENDEAVOR 521, March 15- April 15, 2013

March 15: Depart Narragansett, Steam for 24^o 45’ N, 38^o 00’W, Operate TSGs, ADCP, and underway data.

March 18: test station (CTD ~ 1hour)

March 19: test station (VMP microprofiler ~ 1 hour)

March 19-22: Continue steaming with test stations as needed (including UW-CTD)

March 22-23: Arrive at 24^o 45’N, 38^o 00’W, WHOI mooring release and redeploy. Launch T-Gliders

March 23: Service PMEL mooring with new Prawler. Retrieve drifting Prawler mooring if in range.

March 23-26: Locate and recover Seagliders, and deploy replacements with CTD at launch. Locate and recover Wave Gliders. Recover and redeploy T-Gliders.

March 26-29: Control volume survey around the mooring triangle with U/W CTD, and micro-structure and CTD stations at the corners. Deploy Wave Gliders when ready. Deploy ML float.

March 30 –April 2: Deploy T-Glider with ASIP near WHOI mooring. Perform VMP time series nearby.

April 3: Identify salinity frontal feature with input from satellites, models and Sarmiento survey, Deploy T-Glider with ASIP for several day time series. Work with Sarmiento to survey the local region.

April 7: Recover T-Gliders, check moorings, CTD stations at moorings, begin steam for Narragansett

April 7-15: Depart area, steam for Narragansett

April 15: Arrive Narragansett