Hey All!
Challenger is continuing to chug along as it gets closer to the Azores. By morning, this brave glider will have acomplished yet another incredible feet, flying over 3000km since deployment just 124 days ago! After moving the way point to the west late last week, Challenger continued past the Sedlo Seamounts, and is now on his way back east towards Terceira.
Challenger is now also less than 130 km from the tropical shores of the Azores. Wednesday the 26, a team of scientists from the Canary Islands, the Azores, and from Teledyne Webb will set sail from the port of Praia da Vitoria and meet up with the glider. There, it will be inspected to see if there is any significant biological growth on the exterior. There will also be a number of files pulled off the hard drive to make more room for the final portion of the journey to the Canary Islands.
ULPGC Sea Surface Height & Currents
HYCOM Sea Surface Heights & Currents
As we close in on our rendezvous location, there is a little discrepancy between the models forecasting what the conditions are like. The first figure shows the ULPGC data showing strong currents that flow right towards our way point off the eastern coast of Terceira. The second figure is from HYCOM, showing quite a mess on the road ahead. As of right now, Challenger has been seeing a correlation shown by the ULPGC data, and if this holds true by Wednesday morning we should be within 80km of the port.
Finally, our friends at ULPGC provided us with a weather forecast for the date we plan on being out on the boat. On the 26, it looks like there will be waves reaching up to 3m with winds potentially reaching 25 knots. This will cause the swells to have a period of about 9 seconds.
We’ll keep everyone posted on the inspection!
Nilsen & Antonio