Hey ¡ Buenos días a todos ¡
Obviously, it looks that challenger 1 mission, a huge international oceanographic mission becomes by moments the MCXXIII chapter of STARTREK and our brave Silbo, more than a glider, becomes the mythic Enterprise …
As Nilsen posted, he has generated an intense traffic of emails and procedures this week. Homework has been focused on battery power consumption forecasts, converting to kmz the data sets available to be included in the website of the mission in real time, Barnacles and finally, object of this post, liquid solar systems. Not so bad: “barnacles and liquid solar systems”.
Some weeks ago, on 24 june, we reported the presence of a liquid meccano of alternatives eddiies belt of different sign at different meso and submesoescales space time. When we made a zoom we observed that this marine eddy galaxy (!??) was engaged forming by different solar systems that seemed to follow the same premise. A belt of eddies was sorrounding another of contrary sign. Thus on 8th july, Silbo was flying the first of this gears. We had a number of cold core eddies surrounding a warm core eddy that were in our path (figure 1).
FIGURE 1. SSHa 8 jul 11. Left handed solar system formed by a warm eddy (sun) in the centre and cold eddies (planets) gyring and translating anticlockwise around.
Two weeks later, Silbo (“enterprise”) follows finding and sailing/flying some liquid solar systems organized in a very espectacular, effcient and simple way. Look that he is heading a new one. However there are some differences with the previous one. This new target is right handed marine solar system (cold sun and warm planets). We would also expect translation movement (to the right) around the cold eddy of the centre that we expect that will not move (figure 2).
Figure 2. SSHa 27th jul 11. A right handed marine solar system.
When we compared both solar system the simetry and size appear evidents. Both translate around a static sun located in the middle at (to check it) apparently the same speed of 8-12 km/day (figure 3 a,b).
Figure 3a and 3b. SSHa field on 8th and 27th jul 11. Left handed and right handed marine solar systems.
We thought the best course of action is to follow these eddies around and try and shoot ourselves as far south as we can by using the alternating currents caused by the cold and warm eddies (cold eddies spin counter clockwise while warm spin clockwise). And we did it. Now, we are applying the symetric protocol to cross this new but right handed liquid system. To cross the initial planetary belt of warm eddies by its right side and, (W path) cross the sun (55 N) by the western side and then the eastern side of the warm eddy located at south (54 N). However there is another solution. To move the Waypoint to the E and attack the warm eddies located SE silbo until arriving to 22 E. Then turn again to SW to leave the solar system and heading the warmer South (figure 4)…
Figure 4. SSHa 8th and 27th jul 11. Path plannings to cross both marine solar systems.
Incredible…Isnt it ? Force, wind, sea and honor to all
Antonio G Ramos
RCO Division (Robotic and Computational Oceanography, ULPGC)