Table of Contents

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

R/V Albatross Globec broadscale cruises 1995-1999,
shipboard meteorology and sea surface measurements
along the ship's track

Comments submitted by Jim Manning

1. These data are accessed under the GLOBEC
   homepage-->Georges Bank data-->broadscale-->alongtrack or
   homepage-->Georges Bank data-->broadscale-->{year}-->alongtrack or
   homepage-->Georges Bank data-->process-->alongtrack   or
   homepage-->Georges Bank data-->process-->{year}-->alongtrack.
2. These are single ascii files per cruise with several variables merged to one minute (interpolated) time steps. The user should be aware of the availability of the unmerged "raw" data if they want the actual data which, for some sensors/variables, was recorded as frequent as every 5 seconds and by more than one instrument. Contact Jim Manning for access to thes data.
3. The first column is the time stamp which, for Albatross convention, is "yrday1_local" which means, for example, that a time of "1.5" represents local noontime on Jan 1st. Note that the "Albatross yearday convention changed to GMT after year 2000, so the user must pay attention to the time stamp in future cruises.  
4. I have been processing Albatross and Delaware alongtrack data on an "as requested" basis so just let me know when you want a particular cruise that is not already posted. More recent (post GLOBEC) data are being stored in as ORACLE database and served via OpenDAP as documented elsewhere.  
5. We all understand this data (shipboard temp, salt, wind, etc.) should be treated as uncalibrated records and should not be used for other than exploratory purposes.

Any questions, contact:

Jim Manning
National Marine Fisheries Service
Woods Hole, Ma 02543

voice:  508 495 2211
fax:    508 495 2258
email:  jmanning@whsun1.wh.whoi.edu

Updated 09/15/05; gfh w/ input from J.Manning

These are single ascii files per cruise with several variables merged to one minute (interpolated) time steps. The user should be aware of the availability of the unmerged 'raw' data if they want the actual data which, for some sensors/variables, was recorded as frequent as every 5 seconds and by more than one instrument.

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).