PHOD initiated the fourth underwater glider mission last Thursday with the deployments of two gliders in the Caribbean Sea off Puerto Rico.
The deployments were conducted on board the R/V La Sultana of the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez (UPRM). Grant Rawson (CIMAS/PHOD) conducted these deployments, together with Prof. Julio Morell of UPR. These gliders have temperature, salinity, oxygen, Chlorophyll-a, CDOM, and backscatter sensors. One glider will continue obtaining profile data on repeat transects under altimeter ground-tracks. The second glider will survey the time varying properties of eddies. Several additional experiments will be also carried out to assess glider-derived currents and sensor accuracy. This mission will last until May/June 2016 and the gliders will obtain approximately 2500 profiles. The fifth mission is scheduled to start in July/August, which is geared towards obtaining critical temperature/salinity profile data to initialize ocean-atmospheric models used for tropical cyclone intensification forecasts.
Participants in the Forth Mission Underwater Glider deployment,from left to right: Joan Bonilla, Luis Pomales, Julio Morell, Grant Rawson and Luis Rodriguez.