| Summary: | The purpose of this cruise aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster was to collect in situ optical and ancillary data for validation of JPSS VIIRS satellite ocean color radiometry and derived products. Specific objectives are detailed in NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 146. The project interval was 9 to 22 November 2014. This 14-day interval included 10 days at sea (including transits), 2 staging days, 1 de-staging day and 1 day crew rest. Days at sea were 11 to 20 November 2014. Ship time aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster (http://www.moc.noaa.gov/nf/) was funded through an allocation by the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO). Ten investigator groups from 11 institutions participated in the cruise. Fifteen scientists (maximum berthing allowance) sailed and conducted measurements with the support of officers and crew aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. The Chief Scientist was Michael Ondrusek of NOAA/STAR. The cruise departed from and returned to Charleston, SC, USA, the Foster’s home port. The primary area of operations was the Western Atlantic along the U.S. Mid- and Southeastern Coast, including cross-shelf, Gulf Stream and blue waters. The cruise track was optimized to accommodate sampling transient features present in the region while respecting weather conditions during the time of the cruise. The cruise transected over 1800 km and occupied 23 stations for collection of underway and profile ocean color measurements during the 10-day duration. As expected in November in the Gulf Stream region, the weather conditions changed daily to represent a wide variety of atmospheric conditions, from cloudy to clear days. On several days, in situ measurements coincided with cloud free VIIRS satellite overpasses, enabling “match ups” for the purpose of ocean color validation. In addition, laboratory calibrations were conducted in collaboration with NIST at the STAR facility in College Park, Maryland both before and after the cruise. The laboratory calibrations used NIST traceable lamps. NIST also developed a reference plaque to be used on board for an instrument intercomparison exercise.
|
|---|