The chart at the left shows the movement of our S-PALACE floats in the Labrador Sea. These are test floats, deployed with different hardware or software configurations to determine which worked better over time. These floats have been deployed for a combined duration of greater than 10 years.
The first float deployed was 24210 (shown by the red line on the map), was deployed in June '95. It was ballasted to 1000 meters and profiled at 14-day intervals and functioned for 2 years and 9 months, sending back 72 profiles. Not bad for a test version of an expendable instrument!
Once 24210 had proven it's functional capabilities by operating for nearly a year,
two more were deployed in May 1996 (24213 is the green line & 24214 is the blue one). Both of
these floats are still functioning three years later, though the conductivity sensor on
24213 has failed. Float 24215 (shown by the purple line), with more enhancements, was deployed in November '96. It profiles
on a 7-day cycle instead of 14 days- consequently, it has sent back twice as many profiles
as the other floats over a similar duration. It has now sent back ~150 profiles
of temperature and conductivity, making it our most productive float, to date.
Click on the float IDs below to view more detailed maps and plots of temperature
variation over the duration of the deployments:
24210
24213
24214
24215
This site last updated 5/20/99.
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