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Sparring Partner

The crew and science team on R/V Neil Armstrong deployed a newly designed, 60-foot spar buoy for sea trials about 100 miles south of Cape Cod this week. The buoy floats upright in the water and carries instruments that gather data above and below the surface to learn about the complex interplay between the ocean and atmosphere. Eventually, the buoy and more like it will head to the Southern Ocean, where research vessels that gather similar data are scarce and bottom-anchored moorings are difficult to maintain, but where air-sea exchange is critical to global climate. (Photo by Jayne Doucette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)