RU22 makes it turn!
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010RU22 makes great progress, it has hit the offshore way-point and now is heading inshore. The progress looks good. Gaps in the HF radar do not provide the currents at the specific glider position, but overall despite some spatial heterogeneity the currents look low and not very strong.
The satellite imagery has been nice given the great sunny 50 degree days. The sunny days show cool water on the shelf. The warmer waters offshore were encountered by the glider. Phytoplankton biomass was highest in the cooler near-shore waters. Also compared to the weekend, the blooms appear to be increasing in intensity.
Glider data shows the temperatures are isothermal. Consistent with the offshore waters seen by the satellites, the glider temperatures are warmer offshore. The warmer waters offshore have high salinity values. The highest backscatter values were encountered during the storm last week. In contrast, the chlorophyll data shows a great deal of spatial variability with enhanced values offshore. The bloom appears to be increasing with time.
