This experiment produced

• 25 current meter records (Aanderaa and VACM)
• 4 records from Seacat CTDs
• 17 temperature records from TSKA data recorders

You can view metadata and/or download the records by clicking on links in the table below. A brief description of the experiment also is available. Each record is identified in the table by its depth and the name of the mooring. You may want to look at a map of the array to see where the moorings were, or view a vertical section that shows instrumentation. If you download any of the files you should review the note on file format. From here you can also move up one level to the list of WOCE experiments.

All of the time series in this archive are filtered and have a time increment of 12 hours. The diurnal tides and all higher frequencies have been removed. The original unfiltered files may be available from the PI's.

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Five moorings containing current meters, CTDs, and temperature recorders were deployed east of Abaco Island in October 1995 (see map). All moorings were recovered approximately 20 months later (though the upper 1000 m of one mooring was lost). The principal goal of the experiment was to measure the volume and heat transports of the thermohaline circulation in the western subtropical Atlantic. The project was initiated with joint support from the NOAA Atlantic Climate Change Program (ACCP) and the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). It addressed the central issue of Element III of ACCP (observing and monitoring the thermohaline circulation) and of the WOCE Moored Velocity Measurement Program (direct flux sections).

This experiment also had the objective of preserving the continuity of the western boundary current transport time series begun by the STACS Program (Subtropical Atlantic Climate Studies) in 1986. The goal of STACS was to obtain multi-year records for the investigation of interannual variability of climate-relevant flow transients. The ACCP-1, 2, and 3 moored arrays have been designated as the US WOCE western boundary current arrays for the subtropical Atlantic.

Related publications

Zantopp R.J., T.N.Lee and W.E.Johns (1998): Moored current meter observations east of Abaco, the Bahamas (ACCP-3 Array). University of Miami RSMAS Technical Report 98-006, 54 pp.

Lee, T.N., W.E. Johns, R.J. Zantopp and E.R. Fillenbaum (1996): Moored observations of Western Boundary Current variability and thermocline circulation at 26.5N in the subtropical North Atlantic. J. Phys. Oceanog., 26(6), 962-983.

Johns, W.E., T.N. Lee, R.J. Zantopp and E. Fillenbaum (1997): Updated transatlantic heat flux at 26.5N. International WOCE Newsletter, 27, 15-22.

Fillenbaum, E.R., T.N. Lee, W.E. Johns and R.J. Zantopp (1997): Meridional heat transport variability at 26.5N in the North Atlantic. J. Phys. Oceanog., 27(1), 153-174.

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netCDF is a self-documenting format that can be accessed by a variety of software tools. We have included here a Matlab script that can be used to read netCDF current records in an environment that contains the Matlab/netCDF interface created by CSIRO. You can Click here to learn more about netCDF.

We are aware that users who are unfamiliar with netCDF or who lack software to deal with it, may find the netCDF format more a deterrent than an aid to effective use of the data. We have included in this CDROM set a second disk that is identical to this one, except that the current meter records have OSU's "Stranger" format. The Stranger format, like netCDF, is self-documenting but utilizes the ASCII code. It is easily readable by both humans and computers; you may find it preferable to netCDF.

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