Education: From a Single Point

In addition to all of of the autonomous in-water instrumentation, fixed moorings in the ocean that can collect highly detailed and varied information are a boon for oceanographic research projects. A single mooring is often a collaborative effort between multiple scientific institutions and not only aids in many different research projects but allows for much more interdisciplinary collaboration and the sharing of data sets.

Mooring deployment

Constructing a Surface Mooring (00:07:18)  Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information 
Dr. Tom Farrar dicusses how scientists design surface moorings to stay in one place in the middle of the ocean while simultaneously collecting data for up to one year at a time.
Temperature and salinity profiles in the SPURS region

Simply gathering oceanographic data is not enough: scientists must then translate that data into something they can see and interpret. Learn how by watching this video!
SPURS Buoy

How Do We Define Salinity? (00:01:30)  Asking Questions and Defining Problems Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions 
Dr. Tom Farrar explains what scientists mean when they talk about ocean salinity and defines the associated values.
Prawler mooring

Dr. Fred Bingham introduces a specific type of instrument that "crawls" up and down a mooring line. The importance of this new technology, as well as what can happen if things go wrong, are discussed in this clip.
Deployment of a surface flux mooring

During SPURS, three research moorings were deployed. In combination, these three stationary platforms collected data in the SPURS region, an area in the northern mid-Atlantic, playing a key role in understanding the high salinity area.
Freshwater budget in the SPURS area

In this clip, Dr. Tom Farrar describes his research with surface seawater fluxes and what it means to create a salinity "budget" for the SPURS study site.
Flux buoy locations

What's Above a Mooring? (00:03:21)  Asking Questions and Defining Problems Planning and Carrying Out Investigations Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information 
Surface moorings collect continuous data from a single point in the ocean. Dr. Tom Farrar explains the types of instrumentation often found atop one of these moorings.