Pioneer MAB Initial Deployment

Sunrise over the NOSM surface buoy on 17 April.

A large-format display of wire tension, amount of wire payed out, and payout speed from the ship’s trawl winch is posted on the superstructure of the R/V Neil Armstrong, facing aft. This allows deck personnel to monitor the winch status during operations.

Two shallow water moorings were deployed today at the Pioneer MAB site. These specially designed moorings allow a wave-powered profiler to span the upper 80% of the water column in water depths as shallow as 25-30 m.

  The R/V Neil Armstrong departs Woods Hole, MA headed to Pioneer MAB on Leg#2.

  Remaining Coastal Profiler Moorings and the brand new Shallow Water Moorings loaded on the R/V Neil Armstrong for deployment during leg 2. Staged and ready. All components of the new MAB shallow water mooring are assembled on deck to facilitate testing before deployment tomorrow.

We are almost home. We are aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, waiting for the tide to change so we can safely make our way to the WHOI dock.  This successful leg 1 would not have been possible without the extreme professionalism and friendliness of the R/V Neil Armstrong crew. …

Hear what the best parts of leg 1 were from some of its participants. The Coastal Pioneer Array MAB team completed all the objectives of Leg 1 by the end of the day April 8th and started the transit home, back to the dock at Woods Hole. Taking advantage of a day in the wet…

High seas are forecast at the end of the week when leg 2 was set to be on site at the new Pioneer location in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Taking advantage of sunny skies and smooth seas, leg 1 was extended to deploy two coastal profiler moorings. The Pioneer Team successfully deployed two profilers moorings today,…

It takes a team onboard the R/V Neil Armstrong.  The crew and science party work side-by-side to conduct all the deployments and recoveries for the Pioneer Array MAB.  Here crew member Scott Loweth hooks the second Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) after its 20-hour transect and helps guide the vehicle back on board where it will…