S-MODE

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S-MODE 10/17/22 Mission Daily Schedule

Monday, October 17

Aircraft schedule:

  • B200 hard down day
  • 0900:  G-III go/no-go
  • NET 1200:  Twin Otter SF3 takeoff (weather permitting)
  • NET 1230:  G-III SF3 takeoff (weather permitting)

Ship and in situ plan:

  • The Bold Horizon will track the second Lagrangian drift survey and potentially get samples on the EcoCTD transect near the floats. If MASS flies, underway samples of POC, Chl, and HPC.
  • Seagliders are moving to new lines. Wave Gliders and Saildrones are charging their batteries.

Science team meeting schedule:

Updates:
  • The sun was out! DopplerScatt and MASS flew coincident flights while the Bold Horizon and autonomous vehicles were surveying below.
  • A Lagrangian float deployment is scheduled this evening.
  • Wave Gliders and Saildrones are currently drifting while conserving power, but all vehicles had some opportunity to charge today while the sun was out.
  • Go to https://smode.whoi.edu/smode_netlink.kml for a Google Earth view of the real time autonomous platform positions.
  • Autonomous platform planned tracks are now incorporated into Google Earth in the KML share folder of the S-MODE Drive
S-MODE 10/16/22 Mission Daily Schedule

Sunday, October 16

Aircraft schedule:

  • PRISM will not fly
  • 1200:  B200 Go/No-Go
  • 1300-1400:  B200 SF8 and Twin Otter SF2 takeoff (weather permitting)

Ship and in situ plan:

  • The Bold Horizon will recover floats and one Wave Glider (Kelvin) this evening.  They will then survey the operations region to try to better define the position and characteristics of the frontal areas.
  • Wave Gliders and Saildrones are trying to maintain position against strong currents, with weak winds and waves inhibiting maneuverability.

Science team meeting schedule:

Updates:
  • We had a successful Lagrangian drift survey with the floats, ship, autonomous vehicles, and DopplerScatt that spanned 10/14-10/15.
  • Winds and waves are weak, so the Saildrones and Wave Gliders are not maneuvering well.  Solar charging has been weak, so many instrument systems on the WG and SD have been turned off today to conserve power.
  • The B200 had a down day today (10/15).
  • Go to https://smode.whoi.edu/smode_netlink.kml for a Google Earth view of the real time autonomous platform positions.
  • Autonomous platform planned tracks are now incorporated into Google Earth in the KML share folder of the S-MODE Drive
S-MODE 10/15/22 Mission Daily Schedule

Saturday, October 15

Aircraft schedule:

  • 0900:  PRISM G-III Go/No-Go
  • 0930:  If ‘Go’, PRISM G-III team arrive at hangar
  • 1200:  B200 Go/No-Go
  • 1230:  PRISM SF3 takeoff (weather permitting)
  • 1300-1400:  B200 SF8 and Twin Otter SF2 takeoff (weather permitting)

Ship and in situ plan:

  • Ship surveys of the front, bio-team underway sampling in the afternoon (if PRISM/MASS fly, otherwise, night sampling), Lagrangian float tracking
  • Wave Gliders and Saildrones repeat frontal patterns

Science team meeting schedule:

Updates:
  • The B200 completed its seventh science flight of the campaign today, but cloudy conditions remain for the optical instruments. Conditions for S-MODE airborne science are not forecast to be good tomorrow, but all three aircraft will assess again in the morning.
  • The Bold Horizon, gliders, and Saildrones continue to survey the operations region to try to better define the position and characteristics of the frontal areas.
  • Lagrangian floats were redeployed and will be retrieved tomorrow morning.
  • NOTE: The S-MODE data center may be down tomorrow for WHOI improvements.
  • Go to https://smode.whoi.edu/smode_netlink.kml for a Google Earth view of the real time autonomous platform positions.
  • Autonomous platform planned tracks are now incorporated into Google Earth in the KML share folder of the S-MODE Drive
Student of the Sea: Learning the Ropes Aboard NASA’s S-MODE Mission

NASA’s S-MODE mission was designed to measure and understand the complex oceanic features classified as “submesoscale,” i.e., features spanning up to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) across. Such fine filaments and sharp density fronts in the ocean are responsible for fast and unpredictable changes in velocity, temperature, salinity, and even among small organisms called plankton in the surface layer of the ocean. A myriad of autonomous instruments, airborne sensors, and a fully equipped ship are part of the robust methods of measuring submesoscale dynamics in the California Current region.

NASA’s S-MODE Field Campaign Deploys to the Pacific Ocean

When the research vessel Bold Horizon sailed from Newport, Oregon, in early October, it joined a small armada of planes, drones, and other high-tech craft chasing the ocean’s shapeshifting physics. NASA’s Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) is converging on a patch of sea 110 nautical miles off the coast of San Francisco. Over the course of 28 days, the team will deploy a new generation of tools to observe whirlpools, currents, and other dynamics at the air-sea boundary.

S-MODE 10/14/22 Mission Daily Schedule

Friday, October 14

Aircraft schedule:

  • 0900:  G-III and PRISM teams arrive at hangar
  • 1130:  PRISM G-III team final Go/No-Go
  • 1200:  PRISM SF2 takeoff (weather permitting)
  • 1200:  Preflight briefing for B200 SF7
  • 1300-1400:  B200 SF7 and Twin Otter SF1 takeoff (weather permitting)

Ship and in situ plan:

  • Ship surveys of the front, bio-team underway sampling during MASS/PRISM in afternoon, Lagrangian float tracking, CTD casts on either side of front (Mara decide w Andrey).
  • Wave Gliders and Saildrones repeat frontal patterns

Science team meeting schedule:

Updates:
  • The B200 completed its sixth science flight of the campaign today, but the weather remains uncooperative for MASS, MOSES, and PRISM.
  • The Bold Horizon, gliders, and Saildrones are all surveying the operations region to try to better define the position and characteristics of the frontal areas.
  • Lagrangian floats have been retrieved by the ship and will be redeployed today.
  • NOTE: The S-MODE data center may be down on Saturday for WHOI improvements.
  • Go to https://smode.whoi.edu/smode_netlink.kml for a Google Earth view of the real time autonomous platform positions.
  • Autonomous platform planned tracks are now incorporated into Google Earth in the KML share folder of the S-MODE Drive
S-MODE 10/13/22 Mission Daily Schedule

Thursday, October 13

Aircraft schedule:

  • 0730:  Go/No-go for G-III SF2
  • 0900:  Preflight briefing for G-III SF2 (pending go/no-go decision)
  • 1100:  PRISM SF2 takeoff (weather permitting)
  • 1100:  Preflight briefing for B200 SF6
  • 1200:  B200 SF6 and Twin Otter SF1 takeoff (weather permitting)

Ship and in situ plan:

  • Ship surveys to characterize submesoscale front
  • Float recoveries and redeployment
  • Wave Gliders and Saildrones repeat frontal patterns

Science team meeting schedule:

Updates:
  • The Bold Horizon pulled into port briefly in San Francisco at ~0730 and departed at noon. The ship will be back in the ops area tonight where they will begin surveying to relocate the submesocale front, recover the Lagragian floats after a successful calibration run, and redeploy the floats on the dense side of the submesoscale front.
  • We are also very happy to report that the science party member who had to exit the research cruise has received medical treatment and is now recovering at a hotel before returning home.
  • The B200 completed its fifth science flight of the campaign today. As demonstrated in the Pilot and now continuing in IOP-1, the DopplerScatt data processing team, led by Ernesto Rodriguez and Alex Wineteer, are producing surface velocity maps of the ops area that are being used by the broader science team to target features of interest for the ship and autonomous vehicles.
  • The B200 and the Twin Otter are planning coordinated intercomparison flights tomorrow that are scheduled to depart midday as weather permits.
  • Go to https://smode.whoi.edu/smode_netlink.kml for a Google Earth view of the real time autonomous platform positions.
  • Autonomous platform planned tracks are now incorporated into Google Earth in the KML share folder of the S-MODE Drive
S-MODE 10/12/22 Mission Daily Schedule

Wednesday, October 12

Aircraft schedule:

  • ~1200:  Twin Otter SF1 takeoff (weather permitting)
  • 1200:  Preflight briefing for B200
  • 1300:  B200 SF5 takeoff

Science team meeting schedule:

Updates:
  • The B200 completed two science flights today, while the G-III flew its first of the campaign. However, a blanket of clouds persisted in the ops area throughout the day, which hindered data collections for MOSES and PRISM.
  • The Bold Horizon is heading into port in San Francisco today due to a medical emergency. The affected member of the science party will be taken to urgent care on arrival tomorrow morning and accommodations will be made to ensure they make it back home safely.
  • Go to https://smode.whoi.edu/smode_netlink.kml for a Google Earth view of the real time autonomous platform positions.
  • Autonomous platform planned tracks are now incorporated into Google Earth in the KML share folder of the S-MODE Drive
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