Cruise Track

The cruise track will include a short section along 27N in the Straits of Florida where long term cable and Pegasus measurements have been made over the past decade. Cable measurements and Sea level gauges should be operational during the cruise. The track continues along 26.5N off the coast of Abaco where long term current meter moorings and repeated hydrographic observations give a good estimate of the mean circulation. The section continues until 71W, then jogs down to 24.5 N by 69W. The 24.5N latitude is sampled until clearance difficulties cause the section to divert northward into the coast of Africa.

A preliminary list of station positions can be found here.

This station plan assumes 127 full water column stations. Note this lists a total of 131 'station' numbers, four of which are turning points. Station numbers listed here with zero depths are turning points used to calculate steaming time. The ship will not stop and water samples will not be drawn at those four stations.

The projected times listed here are all in GMT and assume that the ship can maintain an *average* speed of 11.5 knots, including slowing down and speeding up for stations, weather related slow downs, etc. The Ronald H. Brown is rated at 15 knots. Should excellence in seamanship and good weather allow the ship to maintain an average speed of greater than 11.5 knots, the ship could arrive earlier on February 24th.

This schedule also assumes a minimum of 90 minutes are required to sample each rosette once the CTD is back on deck. If the stations are spaced particularly closely so that the steaming time is less than 90 minutes, the ship is assumed to have to hove-to at the next station until sampling is complete.

Some extra time (6 minutes) is also added for the deployment and recovery of the rosette.