TPOS Mission 3:  June 8, 2019 - December 8, 2019

Four Saildrones launched from Hawaii, on June 8, 2019, initiating the third TPOS mission.  This mission will focus on air-sea interactions in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, and study specific, targeted phenomena for different phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.  The Saildrones will likely capture the "discharge" phase of ENSO, where warm tropical waters spread to their eastern-most extent.

Saildrones are unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) development by Saildrone, Inc. and NOAA/PMEL.  Using wind power for transit and solar power for instrumentation, these Saildrones will investigate heat and carbon exchange between the ocean and atmosphere.  With four drones, the spatial variability of underlying variables will be better understood.

Mission 3 updates will be posted on the OCS Saildrone TPOS 2019 Mission Blog.