I-COOL

On the y-axis, is the depth. And on the x-axis is time. The color bar denotes the chlorophyll concentration of the water. The redder it is, the more chlorophyll there is. The more blue, the less chlorophyll.

When the glider was first deployed on 10/19, we witness the highest chlorophyll concentration. This is due to the fact that off the coast, you find the most nutrients. In addition, the cold water is a sign that water has welled up to the surface carrying nutrients that have built up over time. These nutrients are necessary in the growth of phytoplankton. Also, you find the most on the surface because of the sun and also because currents raise nutrients to the ocean's surface. As the glider continues its journey, we see a decrease in chlorophyll concentration. As you move further out into the ocean, the nutrients get diffused. On 10/23, there was a sudden change in chlorophyll concentration. This may be because of a storm that increased the rate of  diffusion of  nutrients, resulting in less phytoplankton. Another hypothesis could be that the glider itself moved across a gradient from high chlorophyll concentration to low chlorophyll concentration.

- Tyshia Rennick, Curtis Yang, Sayoung Byun

This image shows the path of RU 15 off the coast of New Jersey.

This is the satellite image of sea surface temperature two days prior to RU 15 being launched. The temperature is lower near the coast, and gets warmer as you move out to sea. The temperature seems constant, at about 18 degrees celsius.

This is the satellite image of sea surface temperature October 25th, about a week into RU-15's launch. The temperature difference between the Estuaries and the shelf is larger than on the 17th. But the mean temperature is still around 18 degrees Celsius.

Taylor Bachorski, Annie Cosentino, Fredrick Klie

This shows the salinity of the water based on the date. According to this graph, saltier water sinks to the bottom of the ocean. It shows that fresher water is closer to the coast. Once the glider reached a certain distance from the coast, there was almost no fresh water and mostly salt water.

This shows the temperature of the water based on the date and the depth of the water. The graph shows that the warm water is on top of the cold water. From looking at the salinity graph, we notice that there is a large amount of salt towards the middle depths of the ocean. This causes the temperature in the middle of the ocean to be warmer than the water above it. This is called "spicy" water, meaning its warm and salty.

Kevin O'Rourke

Karen Hernandez

Matt Tung

This graph represents change in density of small particles in the water over time and depth. Red represents greater quantity (density) of 470nm ish particles in the water, and blue, not so much. As the glider moves off the coast one can observe some patches of high density of particles (creating cloudy water) which are likely caused by storms or eddies. The fact that the red patches are usually lower in the water is likely due to the fact that silt settles to the bottom. The first red patch, which probably got stirred up by a storm, goes all the way to the surface: there is less water for the particles to be displaced in, so the impact of a little disruption is more drastic in shallow water. In the second red patch, around the 21st, there is a similar disruption, but more water; the impact isn't as dramatic because of the depth. It could even be limited to the bottom by high salinity (especially if it was raining; surface water won't be very salty at all). There is a lower density patch between the two red patches, which could probably be accounted for by the glider leaving the area or a gap in the storm (it is a gap of several hours, very possible). In deep water, there is almost no change in particle density at all--such deep water is probably unaffected by storms in that way.

Robert Forney

David Bechtel

Connor Gibbons

So, I just c/p'd this image. Anyways, This is simply a graph of the salinity of the ocean as the glider traveled.  As you can see, since the glider was probably released near the mouth of a river, (maybe the Hudson?) initial surface water had a low salinity.  However, since salt water is denser than freshwater, there is a patch of saltier water below the brackish water.  Then, as the glider traveled farther out to the deep blue ocean, the water naturally got saltier, since there is less freshwater diluting the denser ocean water.  Of course, water with more solutes i it is denser than pure water, so salinity increases with depth.  Nonetheless, there are some areas where the water suddenly becomes slightly fresher.  Maybe this is the work of rain showers?  I'm not entirely sure.  My brain tends to function a little slower at 4am.
-Matthew Tung

This is Ru-15's temperature data from 10-19-2011 to 10-21-2011. There is a noticeable thermocline, boundary between warmer water and colder water, that forms at about 15 meters in depth. As Ru-15 journeys through 10-21-2011, there seems to be a mixing of of the cool and warm water. This could be the result of wind or storms that happened on that day. The mixing of temperatures within layers is a phenomenon known as stratification. Stratification is crucial for the ocean ecosystem. Nutrients at the bottom are brought to the surface and oxygen is transferred to deeper surfaces.

-Curtis Yang

This image shows the temperature of the water that the glider flew over.  Depth is shows on the y axis and the date is shown on the x axis.  It shows that on October 8, the water was warmer and gets colder as time goes on.  On October 17, the water is colder, and it stays about the same temperature through October 19.  The temperature is about 18 degrees Celcius.  As the water gets deeper, the temperature gets colder.

-Annie Cosentino and Austin Melillo

The image above shows how temperature decreases as depth increases.

The image also shows how after October 16th, the water temperature significantly drops.

-David Bechtel

The graph above shows some data on the salinity captured by the RU07 Glider off of the coast of New Jersey. Towards the beginning of the trip there is a noticeable halocline, with fresher water towards the surface and saltier water at the bottom. However, at around October 15th the graph shows almost all salt water. This could be a sign of a storm which would serve to spread the salt water evenly in the ocean.

Jesse Henshaw