Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT)
in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa |
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Meteorology
Sampling ProcedureAt Station ALOHA, the science personnel recorded weather data every four hours, including wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, wet- and dry-bulb air temperature, sea surface temperature (SST), cloud cover, and weather code. Additionally, the R/V Kilo Moana's anemometers provided continuous wind velocity measurements every 5 minutes at a height of 21 meters. Also available were hourly atmospheric pressure, air temperature, SST, wind velocities and relative humidity measurements from the WHOTS buoy. The anemometers in the buoy were 2.7 m above the sea surface. The time-series of shipboard observations obtained by the science group was plotted, and obvious outliers were identified and flagged. The SST-dry air temperature and wet-dry air temperature plots also helped to identify outliers. Outliers in the shipboard pressure, air temperature, SST, and wind observations were detected by comparison with the WHOTS buoy data. The R/V Kilo Moana was equipped with various instruments to collect data on meteorological conditions. These included RM Young port and starboard side anemometers to measure wind speed and direction, an RM Young 41342 temperature probe to measure air temperature, a Rotronic MP101A to measure relative humidity, a Vaisala PTB220 to measure barometric pressure, an Eppley Precision Spectral Pyranometer (PSP) to measure incoming shortwave radiation, an Eppley Precision Infrared Radiometer (PIR) to measure longwave radiation, a Biospherical QSR-2000 radiometer to measure photosynthetically available radiation, and an OSi ORG-815 and Young 50202 Gauge to measure precipitation. These measurements were later compared to the data collected by the WHOTS buoy. ResultsThe meteorological data collected at 4-hour intervals by HOT program scientists include atmospheric pressure, sea-surface temperature and wet and dry bulb air temperature. These data are presented in Figure 76, Figure 77 and Figure 78. Parameters show evidence of annual cycles, although the daily and weekly ranges are nearly as high as the annual range for some variables. Wind speed and direction are also collected on HOT cruises. These data are presented in the Figures below. Hourly atmospheric pressure, air temperature, sea surface temperature, and relative humidity measurements were also available from the WHOTS buoy. These data are also plotted in Figure 76, Figure 77 and Figure 78. The thermosalinograph temperatures obtained at Station ALOHA during cruises are also plotted together with the sea-surface meteorological observations in Figure 76 (lower panel) and show good agreement with these measurements. The Figures below present a comparison of the wind vectors obtained from both the ship wind observations and the WHOTS buoy measurements, wherever available. |