Abstract:

Drift cards, in the form of 11" diameter biodegradable bamboo plates, were seeded in the field of view of the ship-tethered aerostat remote sensing system (STARRS). A high-resolution camera captured images of the patch of drift cards are regular intervals. Cards were detected in the sequence of imagery to study near-surface transport and dispersion. A GPS and inertial navigation system (INS) were also installed on STARRS. However, initialization issues with the INS resulted in inaccurate heading data for most of the drift card experiments. The GPS-INS data are also not precisely synchronized in time with the imagery. Drift card releases were carried out over multiple days in the Gulf of Mexico from 24 January 2016 to 6 February 2016 aboard the M/V Masco VIII. The imagery and raw GPS-INS data from the aerostat, as well as GPS positions from two markers on the Masco VIII, are supplied here.

Suggested Citation:

Daniel F. Carlson, Tamay Ozgokmen, Guillaume Novelli, Cedric Guigand, Jean Mensa, Mike Rebozo, Maristella Berta, Sanchit Mehta, Ed Ryan, Milan Curcic, Brian Haus, Eric D'Asaro. 2017. Lagrangian Submesoscale Experiment (LASER) aerostat drift cards, Gulf of Mexico, January 2016 - February 2016. Distributed by: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7M61H9P

Publications:

Carlson, D. F., Özgökmen, T., Novelli, G., Guigand, C., Chang, H., Fox-Kemper, B., … Horstmann, J. (2018). Surface Ocean Dispersion Observations From the Ship-Tethered Aerostat Remote Sensing System. Frontiers in Marine Science, 5. doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00479

Chang, H., Huntley, H. S., Kirwan, A. D., Carlson, D. F., Mensa, J. A., Mehta, S., … Poje, A. C. (2019). Small-scale dispersion in the presence of Langmuir circulation. Journal of Physical Oceanography. doi:10.1175/jpo-d-19-0107.1

D’Asaro, E. A., Carlson, D. F., Chamecki, M., Harcourt, R. R., Haus, B. K., Fox-Kemper, B., … Yang, D. (2020). Advances in Observing and Understanding Small-Scale Open Ocean Circulation During the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Era. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7. doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00349

Purpose:

These data were collected to quantify near-surface, small-scale dispersion in the open ocean.

Data Parameters and Units:

The images supplied here have not been georectified, nor have the images been corrected for lens distortion. The interval between most images was 15 seconds, however, some longer gaps are present. The date and time, as well as focal length of the lens, can be retrieved from the image exif data. The GPS-INS data are stored in text files with the data in columnar form with the following fields: Latitude (Decimal Degrees), Longitude (Decimal Degrees), Altitude (meters), Roll (degrees), Pitch (degrees), Heading (degrees), GPS milliseconds of the week The GPS data from the Masco VIII correspond to two GPS loggers placed on targets intended to be visible in the aerial imagery. The PORT and AFT files correspond to GPS units fixed to the stern and to a container on the port side of the Masco VIII. These data follow standard NMEA protocols.

Individual Files: