Vitiaz Strait Transport (PCM15)

This experiment produced 35 current meter records from 5 moorings, each of which was occupied twice. 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.

Note that each of the 5 moorings was occupied twice - Phases 1 and 2. In some cases the Phase 1 and Phase 2 current records are nearly (but not quite) contiguous. In others the gap between the two deployments is significant.

Return to top of page.

PCM15 went forward in two phases. The first phase began in February 1992; Aanderaa and Endeco current meters were installed on 5 moorings spanning the Vitiaz Strait (see map). This produced 14 useful current records of varying lengths. During the second phase, which began in July 1992, the moorings were revisited and replaced. The second set of instruments was recovered during April 1993, and produced 21 useful current records.

Some results of an analysis of the data can be found in

Murray, S., E. Lindstrom, J. Kindle and E. Weeks (1995): Transport through the Vitiaz Strait. WOCE Notes, 7(1), 21-23.

Return to top of page.

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.

Return to top of page.