Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

Initial positions of drifters deployed from 1995 to 1999 in support of the U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank program. For drifter tracking, see the 'drifter_tracks' dataset.

Notes:
¹Drifters named with a leading 'g' were generally deployed in US terriorial waters and drifters identified with a leading 'n' were deployed in Canadian Waters by Peter Smith from the Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO). Also, drifter types containing a gps system reported positions every 30 minutes.

²'inst' parameter is a combination of:  Manufacturer code (se = Seimac, cw = Clearwater, met = MEtocean, to = Technocean) + Center depth of drogue (10 or 40 meters) + Shape of drogue (W = wide, versus a square drogue) + Presence of gps system (gps)

Contributor:
Richard Limeburner (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Woods Hole, MA 02540
rlimeburner@whoi.edu

BCO-DMO updated: June 01, 2012

Satellite-tracked drifters with holey sock drogues centered at 10, 15 and 40-m depths were deployed over Georges Bank during 1995-99 in support of the U.S. GLOBEC/Georges Bank Program. Some drifters were deployed in regions of strong vertical shear over the Bank and these drifters had a drogue that was twice as wide and half as long as the standard drogue and are designated as having ‘wide’ drogues (see note 2 above). Drifter types containing a gps system reported positions every 30 minutes.

BCO-DMO corrected unknown/missing cruise ID's for the following drifters:
g31- corrected to EN274. (Cruise report for EN274 documents the deployment of g31.)
g47- corrected to EN278. (Original data has EN278 listed.)
g84 and g85 - corrected to EN291. (EN291 cruise report documents the deployment of these drifters.)
g98 and g99 - corrected to EN294. (EN294 cruise report documents the deployment of these drifters.)
g140 and g142 - corrected to EN300. (EN300 cruise report documents the deployment of these drifters.)
g157 and g158 - corrected to OC315. (Original data has OC315 listed and Oceanus schedule confirms dates, locations, and investigators.)
g159 - corrected to OC316. (Original data has OC316 listed and cruise report confirms this.)
n6 to n10 - corrected to PAR98-078. (Cruise report for PAR-98-078 documents the deployment of these drifters.)

The U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Program is a large multi- disciplinary multi-year oceanographic effort. The proximate goal is to understand the population dynamics of key species on the Bank - Cod, Haddock, and two species of zooplankton (Calanus finmarchicus and Pseudocalanus) - in terms of their coupling to the physical environment and in terms of their predators and prey. The ultimate goal is to be able to predict changes in the distribution and abundance of these species as a result of changes in their physical and biotic environment as well as to anticipate how their populations might respond to climate change.

The effort is substantial, requiring broad-scale surveys of the entire Bank, and process studies which focus both on the links between the target species and their physical environment, and the determination of fundamental aspects of these species' life history (birth rates, growth rates, death rates, etc).

Equally important are the modelling efforts that are ongoing which seek to provide realistic predictions of the flow field and which utilize the life history information to produce an integrated view of the dynamics of the populations.

The U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Executive Committee (EXCO) provides program leadership and effective communication with the funding agencies.

U.S. GLOBEC (GLOBal ocean ECosystems dynamics) is a research program organized by oceanographers and fisheries scientists to address the question of how global climate change may affect the abundance and production of animals in the sea.

The U.S. GLOBEC Program currently had major research efforts underway in the Georges Bank / Northwest Atlantic Region, and the Northeast Pacific (with components in the California Current and in the Coastal Gulf of Alaska). U.S. GLOBEC was a major contributor to International GLOBEC efforts in the Southern Ocean and Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP).