The Bermuda Testbed Mooring (BTM)

The BTM is deployed roughly twice per year for 6-month data records. Specific instrumentation and depth of instruments may differ from deployment to deployment. Click on the deployment numbers in the table below for associated mooring diagrams.

R/V Weatherbird Ship Schedule

Deployment	Date Deployed	Date Recovered	Location
1	June 3, 1994	September 3, 1994	31o44.95'N, 64o10.17'W
2	September 16, 1994	January 28, 1995	31o44.75'N, 64o10.37'W
3	April 5, 1995	August 23, 1995	31o44'N, 64o10'W
4	August 29, 1995	November 22, 1995	31o43.68'N, 64o10.05'W
5	March 26, 1996	August 15, 1996	31o43.89'N, 64o09.89'W
6	August 20, 1996	January 22, 1997	31o43.42'N, 64o10.19'W
7	May 3, 1997	July 30, 1997	31o42.88'N, 64o09.02'W
8	August 7, 1997	November 20, 1997	31o42.89'N, 64o09.97'W
9	November 26, 1997	March 31, 1998	31o42.79'N, 64o10.31'W
10	November 11, 1998	March 19, 1999	31o43.07'N, 64o09.93'W
11	April 1, 1999	July 21, 1999	31o43.08'N, 64o10.14'W
12	July 29, 1999	November 6, 1999	31o42.60'N, 64o09.30'W
13	December 5, 1999	May 27, 2000	31o41.57'N, 64o09.04'W
14	June 1, 2000	November 29, 2000	31o43.214'N, 64o09.310'W
15	March 16, 2001	November 4, 2001	31o41.768'N, 64o10.523'W
16	December 6, 2001	February 24, 2002	31o43.14'N, 64o10.44'W
17	September 3, 2002	May 4, 2003	31o44.382'N, 64o9.720'W
18	May 10, 2003	November 13, 2003	31o43.695'N, 64o11.566'W
19	February 21, 2004	April 10, 2004	31o44.611'N, 64o10.182'W
20	May 4, 2004	September 28, 2004	31o43.610'N, 64o11.062'W
21	October 7, 2004	April 13, 2005	31o43.729'N, 64o11.037'W
22	May 13, 2005	September 27, 2005	31o43.977'N, 64o10.409'W
23	October 21, 2005	July 02, 2006	31o43.779'N, 64o09.601'W
24	July 14, 2006	March 1, 2007	31o43.610'N, 64o11.062'W
25	March 12, 2007	October 1, 2007	31o43.610'N, 64o11.062'W

Because the strength of mooring data is in temporal observations with depth, careful consideration goes into mooring design (i.e., sampling rates are carefully chosen and instruments are strategically placed). To aid in the determination of nitrate flux, nitrate sensors are placed at 80 m, in generally relatively nutrient poor waters near the edge of the euphotic zone (which extends from the surface to the 1% light level) and at 200 m (in nutrient rich waters). MORS packages, measuring apparent optical properties (i.e., those dependent on light geometry) including radiance and irradiance, are placed well within the euphotic zone at the surface, 15 m, and 35 m. The fact that they are close together is intentional, so that reasonable estimates of diffuse attenuation coefficient can be made. The BIOPS package measures inherent optical properties such as spectral attenuation and absorption, and is placed at 20 m and 90 m depths, aimed to be near the chlorophyll maximum (typically around 50 m, although this depth fluctuates). Further, an uplooking 150KHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) provides high vertical resolution (~3 m) current data every 15 min. Temperature is sampled at 7 or 8 depths, and the data are used to calculate the degree of stratification and the depth of the mixed layer.

Bermuda Biological Station for Research

BTM Site

New buoy (as of September 2002)

Mooring Recovery

Buoy