MAPKIWI (PCM9)

This experiment produced 52 current meter records from 19 moorings. 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 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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Prior to MAPKIWI, no direct measurements had been made in the DWBC in the Pacific, and evidence of its width and transport could be found only in hydrographic measurements. It was decided to deploy the U.S. resources along a 1000 km line at 32.5 deg S extending east from the western boundary ( see map). Three nominal depths were instrumented: about 200 m above the bottom, 4500 m, and 2500 m. The 2500 m level was selected because it was anticipated that 2500 m would be near the top of the DWBC in the west, and that current meters at this depth would show predominantly northward flow in the eastern part of the array.

The array was deployed in January and February 1991 from the R/V Raphuia operated by the New Zealand Oceanographic Institute. It consisted of 20 subsurface moorings with a total of 60 current meters. It was recovered in November and December 1992 by the F/V Giljanes. The acoustic releases failed on four of the moorings. Parts of three of these were recovered by dragging. Mooring 8 was not recovered. The top instrument of Mooring 14 sank during recovery. A total of 53 current meters were recovered.

This experiment was called MAPKIWI for rather slim reasons - it was in some sense a follow-on to the MAPCOWS experiment in the south Atlantic. But even the name MAPCOWS, though a justifiable acronym, has its detractors.

All moorings were instrumented with Aanderaa RCM8 vector-averaging current meters (which were fitted with RCM5-type Savonius rotors and vanes). The meters recorded speed, direction, and temperature; some meters also recorded pressure. The recording interval was 30 minutes.

Related publications

Pillsbury, R.D. et al (1994): Deep western boundary currents in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, WOCE PCM-9, February 1991 - December 1992. Data Report 158, Reference 94-3. College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University. 300pp.

Warren, B.A., T. Whitworth, M.I. Moore and W.D. Nowlin (1994): Slight northwestward inflow to the deep South Fiji Basin. Deep-Sea Res. I, 41(5/6), 953-956.

Whitworth, T., B.A.Warren, W.D.Nowlin Jr., S.B.Rutz, R.D.Pillsbury, M.I.Moore (1999): On the deep western boundary current in the Southwest Pacific Basin. Progress in Oceanography, 43, 1-54.

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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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