PIRATA Northeast Extension

The 2011 PNE cruise was conducted aboard the R/V Ronald H. Brown on July 21 to August 21, from Charleston, SC, USA to Cape Town, South Africa. The chief scientist was Rick Lumpkin (NOAA/AOML). During this cruise, the four PIRATA Northeast Extension buoys were serviced, a T-FLEX mooring was deployed within five miles of the PNE mooring at 20N-38W, and the backbone moorings at Eq-23W and 10S-10W were repaired. Six hydrographic casts were conducted, one at each of the PIRATA mooring sites visited during the cruise.

The 2010 PNE cruise was conducted aboard the R/V Ronald H. Brown on April 26 to May 22, from Takoradi, Ghana to Charleston, SC, USA. The chief scientist was Claudia Schmid (NOAA/AOML). During this cruise, the four PIRATA Northeast Extension buoys were serviced, the backbone mooring at Eq-23W was repaired via tube swap, and the backbone mooring at 0N0E (which had gone adrift) was recovered. A hydrographic line along 23W was occupied from the Equator to 20.5N.

The 2009 PNE cruise was conducted aboard the R/V Ronald H. Brown on July 11 to August 11, from Bridgetown, Barbados to Key West, FL USA. The chief scientist was Rick Lumpkin (NOAA/AOML). During this cruise, the four PIRATA Northeast Extension buoys were serviced, and the backbone mooring at Eq-23W was repaired. A hydrographic line along 23W was occupied from 4N to 20.5N.

The 2008 PNE cruise was conducted aboard the R/V Antea, a French vessel that was chartered by NOAA after the originally scheduled, April 2008 cruise on the R/V Ron Brown had been canceled due to mechanical issues. The Ron Brown cruise had been scheduled to include a repeat hydrographic section along 23W, but ship time costs prohibited this work from being done on the Antea. The replacement cruise was focused entirely on replacing the four PNE moorings and the backbone mooring at 0, 23W, with CTD sections at these five sites. The cruise was conducted in two legs to accommodate the limited endurance of the Antea. Leg 1 began on October 5th out of Dakar, Senegal and lasted 13 days, until the Antea's return to Dakar on October 18. Leg 2 began on October 21 and ended on November 5, also in and out of Dakar, Senegal. The chief scientist was David Zimmerman (NOAA/PMEL).

The 2007 PNE cruise was conducted aboard the R/V Ronald H. Brown on May 2-29, from Bridgetown, Barbados to Ft. Lauderdale, FL USA. The chief scientist was Rick Lumpkin (NOAA/AOML). During this cruise, the moorings at 4N, 23W and 11.5N, 23W were serviced, and longwave and barometric pressure measurements were added to the 11.5N buoy. New buoys were deployed at 20.5N, 23W and at 20N, 38W, completing the originally envisioned PNE array. A hydrographic line along 23W was occupied from 4N to 20.5N.

The 2006 PNE cruise was the first cruise of this project. It was conducted aboard the R/V Ronald H. Brown in two legs. Leg one was May 27-June 18, from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Recife, Brazil, chief scientist Rick Lumpkin (NOAA/AOML). During this leg, the first two PNE moorings were deployed at 4N, 23W and 11.5N, 23W and the sites of future deployments were surveyed. The PIRATA backbone mooring on the equator, 23W was also serviced, and a hydrographic line was conducted from 20.5N to 5S, 23W. Leg two was June 22-July 16, from Recife, Brazil to Charleston, SC USA, chief scientists Claudia Schmid (NOAA/AOML) and Vernon Morris (Howard University). During this leg, the hydrographic line was repeated from 5S to the Cape Verde plateau.