2006 Ocean Sciences Meeting SEACOOS Poster - A time series of upper ocean currents as measured from the Explorer of the Seas

For the program on "Ships and Other Platforms of Opportunity as Tools for Ocean Observation III Posters," OS36E-04. Upper ocean currents have been measured by two Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) mounted aboard Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd's Explorer of the Seas since late 2000 as part of a cooperative agreement with University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Data from a suite of meteorological and oceanographic sensors complement the 5-year time series of 38kHz and 150kHz ADCP measurements collected with support from NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. The Explorer's weekly route starts and ends in the Port of Miami and consists of a passage through either the Eastern or Western Caribbean Seas. The ADCP data from each RDI Ocean Surveyor instrument were post-processed using the University of Hawaii's Common Ocean Data Access System (CODAS) to arrive at ocean velocity estimates. Processing efforts were mainly focused on the reduction of the errors in the ocean velocity estimates that are dependent upon navigational uncertainties, and which are compounded by the Explorer's rapid cruising speed (typically over 20 kts). These computations of ocean currents from the bi-weekly crossings of the Gulf Stream have resulted in approximately 400 individual transects across the Florida Straits available for analysis and capture a wide range of temporal and spatial variability. The ADCP data collection effort is continuing, and near-realtime delivery of the ADCP data is underway as a VOS component of the SouthEAst Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS). *E J Kearns, L Beal, R Zika, E Williams, S Cummings