This page was developed in support of the collaboration agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Institute of Shipboard Education (ISE).

Products from

A thermosalinograph (TSG) was installed in the MV Explorer on June, 2007. The TSG continuously measures sea surface temperature (SST) [1] and sea surface salinity (SSS) [1] along the track of the MV Explorer. These data are transmitted in near real time to AOML for quality control and then inserted into the Global Telecommunication System (GTS), which is a real-time oceanographic and meteorological database. This TSG is the first component of an oceanographic equipment setup that will be in place at the MV Explorer, which will also include a pCO2 system and a salinometer.

This project is part of the alliance between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Semester at Sea (SAS), in which SAS students work directly with faculty members and NOAA scientists to deploy oceanographic equipment (surface drifters and profiling floats) from the MV Explorer. These equipments transmit data from ocean regions that are severely under-sampled. Additionally, this collaborative project receive the support of NOAA/CoastWatch, providing AOML with real-time satellite fields.

We show here the SST and SSS values measured by the TSG installed in the MV Explorer. In addition, NOAA/AOML has developed several products that show near real time ocean geostrophic currents (surface currents, SC) [2], sea surface temperature, sea surface color (chlorophyll a) and surface wind field in the region where the MV Explorer is located.

TSG Data

Time Series of SST and SSS

Time Series of SST and SSS

Time series of SST and SSS in real-time mode.

Products

Ocean Color

Ocean Color and SC

Real-time ocean color and surface currents around the present ship position.

SST and SC

SST and SC

Real-time SST and surface currents around the present ship position.

Winds and SC

Winds and SC

Real-time winds and surface currents around the present ship position.

Real-Time Ocean Conditions

Real-Time Ocean Conditions

Slideshow of real-time ocean conditions around the present ship position.

Google Earth Maps

Google Earth Maps

Download and open this map with Google Earth to view real-time ocean conditions around the present ship position. (Google Earth must be installed in your computer).

References

[1]. Introduction to Physical Oceanography. Temperature, Salinity, and Density. Robert H. Stewart.

[2]. Introduction to Physical Oceanography. Geostrophic Currents. Robert H. Stewart.


Please refer to this link for data, products and results aknowledgement and distribution.