Argo Profiling CTD Floats - Field operations and photos

Field Operations and Photos

Floats arrays cannot be established without the generous and able assistance of the officers, crew, and scientific parties of numerous vessels. The following ships (in alphabetical order) and their complements are gratefully acknowledged:

NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown
R/V Maurice Ewing
M/V Explorer
NOAA Ship Miller Freeman
T/S Golden Bear
NOAA Ship Hi'ialakai
NOAA Ship David Starr Jordan
NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana
R/V Kilo Moana
R/V Knorr
NOAA Ship McArthur II
R/V Melville
T/S Oshoro Maru
USCG Polar Sea
R/V Roger Revelle
SSV Robert Seamans
R/V Tangaroa
R/V Thomas G. Thompson
R/V Wecoma

Curran Fey of the TAO project and Shawn Gendron of the NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana prepare to deploy a PMEL Argo float in the Tropical Pacific

Argo float deployment from the NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana


Float being deployed south of New Zealand from the R/V Tangaroa by Mike Stevens (NIWA- left) and Craig Robinson - deckhand (right; courtesy of MFish/LINZ)		Miles Dunkin (NIWA) listening for float piston motor mechanism on the R/V Tangaroa (courtesy of MFish/LINZ)		NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana steams off after another successful float deployment on a TAO mooring cruise		Float vertical in ocean once deployed (courtesy of MFish/LINZ)


Dock test at NOAA/PMEL		Floats and shipping containers in NOAA/PMEL float lab		Moving a 55 lb float with cowling off and air bladder inflated		Float deployment from the T/S Golden Bear with a rainbow in the background (photo by John Polling)


Cal Poly students showing off their Argo spirit (and tattoos) with an autographed Argo float on the T/S Golden Bear (photo by John Polling)		SIO and WHOI personnel prepare a float for deployment from the R/V Revelle at 46° 30' S, 150W during the 2005 repeat of WOCE Section P16S (photo by Chris Sabine)		Deploying a float without stopping the ship requires special boxes to protect the floats. Here cross braces are assembled to protect the antenna on the R/V Melville (photo by Capt. Maury)		After the box is secured with twine knotted using lifesaver links it will protect the float when the box hits the water. The lifesavers will dissolve after a short time, causing the box to open, releasing the float to complete its mission. Here the box is just being dropped from the R/V Melville (photo by Capt Maury)


Floats ready for testing in the NOAA/PMEL float lab		Cal Poly Students and crew of the T/S Golden Bear deploy a float at night (photo by Jay Christofferson)		Float salinity calibration checks at PMEL. Salt water is run in parallel through each float CTD and a lab reference to confirm that they agree to within 0.01 PSS-78		Returning to the lab after a successful test of a new float pressure activation feature in Lake Washington. To preclude loss of the instrument, it was kept tethered with mono filament (and near neutrally buoyant) fishing line


Preparing to deploy a float from the R/V Kilo Moana		Float testing in the PMEL float lab. The yellow plastic cowlings have been removed from two floats to allow examination of their black rubber bladders. Some internal components, including the controller board and batteries, of a different float can also be seen on the counter.		Pete Liarkos of WHOI deploys a float from the R/V Knorr.		A float packaged in a deployment box is lowered from the M/V Explorer while steaming at 20 kts. Boxes are used to protect floats from water impact when deployed from a moving ship.

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