![]() |
|||||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Mooring information | ![]() |
|
![]() |
|||||
![]() |
![]() |
Go to:Historical Standard ATLAS Moorings - Surface Mooring Hardware - Sensor Heights and Depths - ADCP Current Meter Moorings - Historical Current Meter Moorings - TRITON Moorings |
![]() |
NEXT GENERATION ATLAS MOORINGS
![]() |
Design
of the relatively inexpensive ATLAS (Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition
System) mooring was initiated by PMEL's Engineering Development Division
(EDD) in 1984 (see Standard ATLAS Moorings,
below). By the mid-1990's, a reengineering effort was underway to modernize
the ATLAS mooring with emphasis on:
|
||||||||||||
|
HISTORICAL
STANDARD ATLAS MOORINGS
Standard ATLAS moorings measured surface winds, air temperature, relative humidity, sea surface temperature, and ten subsurface temperatures from a 500 m long thermistor cable. Daily-mean data were telemetered to shore in near real-time via NOAA's polar-oribiting satellites and Service Argos. A small subset of hourly values (2-3 per day) coinciding with satellite passes were also transmitted in real time. Hourly values of surface data were internally recorded and available after mooring recovery. |
Non-rotating 3/8" (0.92 cm) diameter wire rope jacketed to 1/2" (1.27 cm) is used in the upper 700 meters to guard against damage from fish bite. Standard ATLAS thermistor cables were fixed to the mooring wire with wire rope clamps. Plaited 8-strand 3/4" (1.9 cm) diameter nylon line is used for the remainder of the mooring. Anchors are fabricated from scrap railroad wheels, and typically weight 1900-2000 kg. All hardware is standard equipment as used in other PMEL taut-line moorings and deployments follow the traditional anchor last routine. |
Moorings are deployed in water depths between 1500 and 6000m. To ensure that the upper section of the mooring is nearly vertical a nominal scope of 0.985 (ratio of mooring length to water depth) is employed on the moorings in water depths of 1800m or more. At a few sites, slack moorings with scope 1.35 have been deployed due to either shallow bathymetry or severe current regimes. In these cases, the upper portion of the mooring is keep fairly vertical (but less so than taut-line moorings) by using a reverse catenary design. |
Standard instrument heights for ATLAS mooring meteorological sensors. LWR is Long Wave Radiation sensor, SWR is Short Wave Radiation sensor, Rain is rain gauge, ATRH is air/relative humidity sensor, BP is Barometric Pressure sensor
Standard instrument depths for ATLAS moorings by ocean basin are listed below: SST/C is Sea Surface Temperature and Conductivity sensor. T1, T2, ...., T10 are subsurface thermistors. TP9 and TP10 are subsurface temperature and pressure sensors. TC1,...,TC6 are subsurface temperature and conductivity sensors. TV1 is a velocity measurement made at 10m depth by a Sontek acoustic Doppler current meter. The current meter is cabled to a temperature module at 13m depth, which relays both velocity and temperature data to the surface buoy.
|
In October 1999,
responsibility for moorings along and to the west of 156E was assumed by
the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) which
has deployed Triangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network (TRITON) buoys at those locations.
Data from both ATLAS and TRITON moorings are merged in a common data base
and available from both PMEL and JAMSTEC.
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Project overview | Data display | Data delivery | El Niño & La Niña | Site map |
![]() |
TAO
Project Office Last modified: August 25, 2008 |