METEOR-20240817

METEOR-20240817#

Summary#

The Meteor headed towards its first station located at the Pirata buoy at 11.5 N, 23 W, arriving around 17:00 LT. The daily status briefing and forecast discussion was held at 10:20.

The SEA-POL radar continues to experience problems with its dual-polarization retrievals. Troubleshooting continues, but the rough sea state prevents work in the radome at this time. So, SEA-POL will continue to run in single-polarization mode for now. It detected scattered rain showers throughout the day.

The Meteor continues to experience rough seas and 25 kt winds from the southwest, causing bouts of seasickness amongst the scientific crew. It had been planned to deploy gliders from an inflatable dinghy upon arrival at the Pirata buoy, but the waves and winds were too high to do so. Plans for oceanographic operations and slow circles for radar scanning may need to be adjusted due to the sea state.

Remarks#

  • Radiosondes were launched on the normal 3-hourly schedule.

  • SEA-POL is running in single-polarization mode.

  • Persistent clouds continue to prevent calibration of the lidar water vapor channel.

  • No coordination with HALO on 18.08 is planned; first coordination planned for 20.08 or 21.08

Plans#

  • 17.08, 17:00 LT - 18.08, 16:30 LT: Operations near Pirata buoy dependent on sea state. Test wirewalker at buoy, perform slow circles to point SEA-POL radar towards convection (SEA-POL station), perform CTDs at position 25nm south of Pirata buoy at 11.5N and 23W. Perform MSS (ocean microstructure) and SEA-POL stations at position all night.

  • 18.08, all morning: Deploy glider, drifter and wirewalker.

  • 18.08, 16:30 LT: Steam towards 9.5 N, 26.714 W (center of center circle of planned HALO flight for Tuesday 20.08). May depart buoy early if sea state prevents oceanographic operations.

  • 20.08, 12:00 LT: Arrive at 9.5 N, 26.714 W (center of center circle of planned HALO flight for Tuesday 20.08)

  • 21.08: After meeting EarthCare/HALO steam south along 26.7 towards Southern edge of ITCZ, to meet HALO

Events#

Time

Comment

10:20

Meeting lead by D. Klocke

17:00

Arrival at Pirata buoy

19:00

WireWalker test
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