The fourth glider mission under JERICO TNA project started

The fourth glider mission under JERICO TNA (http://www.jerico-fp7.eu/) started on September 15th, 2014, with a deep glider mission from Mallorca to Algiers, to monitor the eastward flow of Modified Atlantic Water and the mesoscale activity in this region, combining in-situ and satellite data, in response to the proposal from Universita' degli studi di Napoli "Parthenope" (Italy) in the frame of JERICO project. 

During approximately 24 days, the glider will cover a round-trip distance of about 500 Km, acquiring profiles of oceanographic data from the surface down to about 950 m. This track has been defined to partially overlap (N39°15.6' down to N37°29.3') the ground projection of the SARAL-ALTIKA (http://smsc.cnes.fr/SARAL) observation satellite swath number 0773. Preliminary plans covers a second full run of this route and, eventually, a third half-run in order to constitute a “check point” for Algerian Basin circulation during a target total period of 60 days. Technical interceptions might be performed for servicing and data-backing-up in between runs.
 

The glider (SLOCUM) is equipped with CTD (conductivity, temperature and pressure), oxygen, fluorescence and turbidity sensors. Gathered measurement will be transmitted through Iridium to allow near-real-time data processing (comparison with MODIS 1Km data, structures of interest and position/extent of the Algerian Current). In parallel, telemetric information will also be transferred to Ground Control for monitoring and engineering purposes. Those transmissions will be done four times a day after the completion of two consecutive dives to max. operative depth. The glider track can be followed and is continuously updated using SOCIB Data Centre glider tools developed: DAPP, and also from the glider educational web tool application FollowTheGlider.