Sponsor

Principal funding is provided by Office Of Naval Research.

Upper Ocean Mooring Data Repository - ASREX91: The Acoustic Surface Reverberation Experiment

Overview:

The 1991 Acoustic Surface Reverberation Experiment (ASREX 91), funded by the Office Of Naval Research, took place in the eastern North Pacific, about 500 km from the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The water depth was approximately 3000 m. The Upper Ocean Processes Group deployed three oceanographic moorings as part of an experiment aimed at understanding near-surface acoustic reverberation in high sea states. Two of the moorings were dedicated to the measurement of surface waves. The third measured meteorological and oceanographic variables. The deployment period, during the winter of 1991-1992, was characterized by high winds and large waves.

Location:

Centered at approximately 49° 14´N, 131° 52´W.
A map is available in jpeg or PostScript.

Duration:

9.5 weeks, October 31, 1991 to January 7, 1992.

Mooring Specifications:

Two wave-rider buoys and one discus buoy with meteorological and oceanographic instrumentation were deployed in a roughly triangular array with separations of 7 to 11 km. Only results from the discus buoy mooring are documented here. Mooring details are available in a table.

Instrumentation:

The discus mooring was outfitted with two independent meteorological sensor systems. Each system contained sensors sufficient for estimating the bulk fluxes of momentum and heat. The primary system performed so well that the secondary system was used only for confirmation of calibrations. The variables observed are listed in the table of meteorological instrumentation.

Ocean temperature and velocity were measured from 1 m to 120 m depth with sensors attached to the buoy bridle and to the mooring line. Both temperature and velocity were measured from 5 to 20 m with 5 m resolution. Temperature was also measured at 1 and 2 m depth, and from 40 to 120 m with 20 m resolution. The variables observed are listed in the table of oceanographic instrumentation.

Data:

More detailed information and access to data files is organized by data type:

Meteorology
Water Velocity
Temperature

References:

• Galbraith, N.R., A. Gnanadesikan, G. Tupper and B.S. Way, 1994: Meteorological and Oceanographic Data During the ASREX 91 Field Experiment, Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst. Tech. Rep 94-18, Woods Hole, MA, 118 pp. abstract pdf