The 1995 Georges Bank Stratification Study and Moored Array Measurements

• Main Authors: Alessi, C., Beardsley, R., Werner, R., Weller, R., Williams, A.
• Other Authors: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Meteorology; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *ARRAYS; *METEOROLOGICAL DATA; *OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA; *DATA ACQUISITION; *MOORING; GROUND LEVEL; MEASUREMENT; RESOLUTION; WIND; SURFACES; SHALLOW WATER; AGGREGATES(MATERIALS); SEASONAL VARIATIONS; VERTICAL ORIENTATION; EVOLUTION(GENERAL); CONCENTRATION(COMPOSITION); HORIZONTAL ORIENTATION; SALINITY; MOISTURE; STRATIFICATION; LARVAE; SUMMER; WIND STRESS; FISHES; THERMOCLINES; MAINE GULF; *MOORED ARRAYS; GBSS(GEORGES BANK STRATIFICATION STUDY); GLOBEC(GLOBAL OCEAN ECOSYSTEM); Nantucket; Northwest Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA399552; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA399552

The 1995 Georges Bank Stratification Study (GBSS) was the first intensive process study conducted as part of the U.S. GLOBEC Northwest Atlantic/Georges Bank field program. The GBSS was designed to investigate the physical processes which control the seasonal development of stratification along the southern flank of Georges Bank during spring and summer. Past work suggested that during this period, larval cod and haddock tended to aggregate to the thermocline on the southern flank where higher concentrations of their copepod prey were found. A moored array was deployed as part of the GBSS to observe the onset and evolution of seasonal stratification over the southern flank with sufficient vertical and horizontal resolution that key physical processes could be identified and quantified. Moored current, temperature, and conductivity (salinity) measurements were made at three sites on the southern flank, one on the crest, and one on the nonheast peak of the bank. Moored surface meteorological measurements were also make at one southern flank site ot determine the surface wind stress and heat and moisture fluxes. The oceanographic and meteorological data collected with the GBSS array during January-August, 1995 are presented in this report. Meteorological data collected on National Data Buoy Center environmental buoys 44011 (Georges Bank), 44008 (Nantucket Shoals), and 44005 (Gulf of Maine) are included in this report for completeness and comparison with the GBSS southern flank meteorological measurements.