[All] S-MODE Week #1 Field Report

Mon Oct 25 16:11:07 PDT 2021

Hi all,

It’s been an eventful first week for the S-MODE Pilot campaign, complete with some highs and lows encountered during the maiden voyage of the experiment.

I traveled to Newport on October 14th to support mobilization efforts for R/V Oceanus. Liquid nitrogen was delivered the next day, and researchers began arriving in Newport as well. To discourage the science party from going to restaurants and other crowded public spaces, researchers were allowed to board the vessel on the 16th. The science party was able to park at the marina, and ESPO coordinated the return of all of their rental cars. Mobilization officially began on October 17th, and OSU Ship Ops was a flurry of activity for the next two days. Oceanus set sail from Newport on the 19th, and soon collided with a large storm. They encountered very rough seas, and some damage was sustained to some of the Wave Gliders that were on deck, and later some damage was discovered to the vessel itself. Oceanus was able to deploy some autonomous assets in the southeast corner of the experiment region before transiting to SF to dock and assess the damage, where they currently remain.

On the aircraft front, the AFRC B-200 arrived at Moffett on October 18th, and flew the first science flight the following day. ASP leadership was onsite to witness this milestone and tour aircraft operations at the N-248 hangar at Ames. Both instruments on board, DopplerScatt and MOSES, are providing data that is generating excitement amongst the team. Flights also occurred on the 20thand 22nd, and the team is currently in the air today, with another flight penciled in for tomorrow and Thursday the 28th.

The AFRC B-200 was joined in the air on Friday by the Twin Otter equipped with the SIO MASS instrument. The Twin Otter and Scripps teams are operating out of the Monterey airport, and they are flying today as well.

We continued to receive bad news from the LaRC team on the status of the G-III. It has been stuck in maintenance, and unfortunately its return kept slipping to the right. This week, the science leadership had to make the incredibly difficult decision to cancel its participation in the S-MODE Pilot campaign. The PRISM instrument team and the rest of the science team is disappointed, but we’re looking forward to their presence in the main campaigns.

We’re looking forward to this week of flights and in situ data collection, and hopefully the R/V Oceanus can get back in action around midweek. The virtual Media Day, which keeps getting moved around, is now tentatively scheduled for Friday, Oct 29 although the PAO team still needs to make a final confirmation on the date.

[A person standing next to a small plane  Description automatically generated with low confidence]
AFRC B200 arrives at NASA Ames. Hector Torres (JPL) in the foreground.

[A large bridge over a body of water  Description automatically generated with medium confidence]
R/V Oceanus approaching San Francisco on October 22, 2021. Photo courtesy of Mat Dever (@OceanMat_ters).

[A picture containing text, indoor, equipment, cluttered  Description automatically generated]
View of the Pacific Ocean from inside the TOI Twin Otter (Photo courtesy of Nick Statom, UCSD)
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