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Looking to the ocean for cloud clues

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers Carlos Moffat and Sean Whelan, along with University of Hawaii graduate student Rebecca Simpson, deploy an instrument this month that they hope will shed light on the formation of large clouds over the Southeastern Pacific Ocean. The instrument, called a vertical microstructure profiler, allows researchers to measure variations in water velocity, temperature, and conductivity (salinity) on very small scales, said WHOI scientist Fiammetta Straneo.  “The goal of our research is to estimate how much mixing is going on in the upper ocean,” she said. “We want to understand what role mixing plays in keeping surface water temperatures low, and how this facilitates cloud formation.”
(Photo by Catherine Hoyle, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)