Ocean Station Papa

Technical Information

The Papa surface mooring was developed at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) for the harsh conditions of the North Pacific region. Special features of the Papa mooring that make it robust include:

2.5 m discus buoy hull
jacketed 7/16" wire rope to ~700m
2 sonic anemometers

Because currents are relatively weak at this site, the Papa mooring is taut-line with scope 0.985.
Currents at this site are monitored with several current meters and a nearby subsurface ADCP mooring.

As part of the global network of time series reference sites, the Ocean Station Papa mooring project office encourages wide use of the data and welcomes collaborations. In particular,

All data are freely available
Daily-averaged and spot measurements are telemetered to shore in near-realtime and made available within one day (see "Data")
A subset of the telemetered surface measurements are also made available in near-realtime through the GTS beginning June 2007
High resolution data are available in delay mode within 6 months of sensor recovery
Papa carries an extensive suite of surface and subsurface sensors to monitor air-sea interaction, mixed layer variations, carbon uptake and ocean acidification.

Mooring	Latitude	Longitude	Deployment Date	Recovery Date	Water Depth (m)
Papa-2007 diagram	50° 7.1'N	144° 50.13'W	7 June 2007	10 June 2008	4219
Papa-2008 diagram	50° 7.8'N	144° 49.9'W	11 June 2008	11 January 2009 (met & surface sensors only)	4230
Papa-2009 diagram	50° 7.6'N	144° 50.2'W	13 June 2009	17 June 2010	4218
Papa-2010 diagram	50° 2.8'N	144° 50.2'W	14 June 2010	13 June 2011	4234
Papa-2011 diagram	50° 7.8'N	144° 49.6'W	11 June 2011		4221

The positions noted in the table indicate the position of the buoy after deployment and settling.

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
7600 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115

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