Watching and Waiting

Alex Ekholm and Pelle Robbins test the programming of a newly developed ALAMO (Air-launched Autonomous Micro Observer) profiling float in a test tank at WHOI. The floats are designed to be dropped from a “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft into the path of a tropical storm to provide data for weather forecasts as well as to record changes in water temperature as the storm mixes warm surface water with colder water below. The autonomous, battery-powered instruments report their data in real time via satellite. and are capable of making up to 200 profiles between the surface and 1000 meters (3,300 feet).(Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)