Benguela Source and Transport (BEST - ACM4)

This experiment produced 12 current meter records from 4 moorings. You can view metadata and download the records by clicking on links in the table below. A brief description of the experiment also is available. Each current meter 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 first to see where the moorings were. If you download any of the current meter records you should review the note on file format. From here you can also move up one level to the list of WOCE experiments.

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The positions of the current meters and echo sounders are shown in a map of the region. There is also a vertical section that shows details of the current meter array.

Measurements were made and instruments serviced during three cruises:

• BEST 1, 16 June 92 - 5 July 92 (R/V Africana)
• BEST 2, 7 May 93 - 3 June 93 (R.R.S. Discovery)
• BEST 3, 24 October 93 - 11 November 93 (R/V Maurice Ewing)

The instruments (current meters and echo sounders) were deployed during the BEST 1 cruise and recovered during BEST 3. The four current meter moorings were positioned along 30 deg S in the broad channel between the African continent and Walvis Ridge. Each mooring carried a current meter at a depth of about 200 m and another at 500 m. Three of the moorings had instruments at 3000 m and the two deepest moorings has current meters at about 5000 m.

All of the current meters were Aanderaa RCM8 meters. Data return was good with two exceptions: (a) the speed sensor of the shallow instrument at Mooring 2 failed after about 2 weeks; and (b) the 3000 m instrument at Mooring 3 stopped recording as soon as it entered the water.

We suggest that you also visit the ACM4 Data Report that we have included elsewhere on this disk. The data report contains downloadable current records, as well as time series plots, kinetic energy spectra, progressive vector diagrams, etc. See also

Clement, A.C., and A.L. Gordon (1995): Velocity structure of the Benguela Current. J. Geophys. Res., 100(C11), 22591-22601.

Garzoli, S. and A.L. Gordon (1996): Origins and variability of the Benguela Current. J. Geophys. Res., 101, 897-906.

Rae, C.M.D., S.L. Garzoli and A.L. Gordon (1996): The eddy field of the southeast Atlantic Ocean: a statistical census from the Benguela Sources and Transports Project. J. Geophys. Res., 101(C5), 11949-11964.

Garzoli, S.L., A.L. Gordon, V. Kamenkovich, D. Pillsbury and C. Duncombe-Rae (1996): Variability and sources of the southeastern Atlantic circulation. J. Marine Res., 54(6), 1039-1071.

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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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