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BACKGROUND Since the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001, two Teledyne/RD Instruments Ocean Surveyor acoustic Doppler current profilers installed by NOAA/AOML have operated on the 1020ft (311 m) cruise ship vessel, Explorer of the Seas. The first ADCP to become operational was the OS38 and in May 2001, the OS150 began standard operations. The ADCP program would not be possible without the guidance and direct participation of Program Manager Liz Williams, nor without the continued dedication of technicians Don Cucchiara, Shailer Cummings (NOAA/AOML), and Chip Maxwell, who are responsible for set up and operations of the instrumentation. The cruise tracks have been concentrated in the eastern and western Caribbean with weekly and then later, bi-weekly crossings of the Florida Current between Miami and the Bahamas. Recently, the ship repositioned to Bayonne, NJ this past summer (2006) departing from there on alternating cruises between Bermuda and the eastern Caribbean. It is presently back in Miami, Fl for the winter (2006/2007). Several changes have been made over the years in configurations and the program was severely challenged in processing the data set. Many thanks go to Jules Hummon of the University of Hawaii for working with Lisa Beal in a collaborative effort to adapt the UH Codas processing to this challenging data set. |