Photo (left):Scott Smith of Brookhaven National Laboratory servicing the tropical atmospheric ocean buoy shortly after the arrival of Ron Brown (in background) on June 23. Other snapshots from the Ron Brown

Commentary:

We began eight daily radiosonde operations yesterday just before reaching the tropical atmospheric ocean buoy, our "home" for seven days. The winds are light, so the Ron Brown is steaming at 3 to 5 knots in "racetracks" around the buoy, in order to aspirate ship sensors with clean air and to keep the ship's exhaust away from radars and radiometers. A large shark has been seen frequently near the buoy, as well as some fish. Only a few fish have been caught, but enough for a fantail barbecue tonight. Spectacular crepuscular rays were seen after sunset yesterday, caused by the shadowing of sunlight from the upper atmosphere by unseen towering cumuli hundreds of kilometers away, over the horizon. The Ron Brown was visited twice today by a low-flying, 50 feet, Cessna 404 research aircraft from Flinders University, Australia.

Visual Observations:

Light and variable winds, glassy sea surface. 3- to 5-meter swells from the east, broken marine cumuli.

Instrument Status:

The C-band radar remains down with elevation drive problems. The elevation motor needs to be replaced and the absolute elevation angle needs to be recalibrated. It is a good time for problems, since there are no storms to scan anyway. The workstation for generating new, combined satellite products failed and will need significant software reconstructive surgery over the next few days. All other sensors are functioning well.

Previous Days' Updates:

June 23, 1999
June 22, 1999
June 21, 1999
June 20, 1999
June 19, 1999
June 18, 1999
June 17, 1999
June 16, 1999
June 15, 1999
June 14, 1999
June 10, 1999

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