Aerial Oceanograpliic Observations, Cape Cod, 

 Massachusetts to Miami, Florida 



By 



JoESPH W. DeAVER^ 



INTRODUCTION 



Airborne radiation thermometer surveys of 

 the United States Atlantic coastal waters are con- 

 ducted monthly by personnel from the Coast 

 Guard Oceanographic Unit. Coast Guard Air Sta- 

 tions located at Otis AFB, Cape Cod, Mas- 

 sachusetts, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina, 

 furnish aircraft and flight crews to conduct these 

 surveys. Two ART surveys, one north and one 

 south of Cape Fear, North Carolina, are done 

 within the same four day interval during the mid- 

 dle of each month (weather permitting). 



The Grumman "Albatross" (HU-16E), a fixed 

 wing search and rescue aircraft, is the primary 

 platform for these monthly ART surveys. The 

 same flight tracks are flown each month although 

 sometimes the flight tracks are temporarily al- 

 tered to avoid bad weather or active operational 

 areas (air space in use by other agencies). 



The product of these ART surveys is a "spe- 

 cial" surface isotherm chart which is produced 

 following the completion of each team's survey 

 area. These special charts ai^e mailed to selected 

 users who have an immediate need for the data. 

 "Regular" surface isotherm charts are refined 

 composites of the "specials." These regular 

 charts are mailed to users approximately three 



'U.S. Ciiasl Guard Oreanographic Unit. Building 1.^9-E. Navy Yard 

 \rin,-x, W'ashillglnn. D.C. 20.=>90. 



weeks following the completion of the monthly 

 survey. 



Coast Guard monthly ART sui-veys locate 

 oceanographic features such as the Gulf Stream's 

 western boundary, define the SST in 1°C isotherm 

 contours, and report marine animal sightings 

 from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Miami, Florida. 



Originally, systematic monthly surveys began 

 in the fall of 1962 as a small feasibility study on 

 the application of ART in support of a study to 

 determine the effects of temperature and currents 

 on the distribution of fishes over the Atlantic con- 

 tinental shelf of the United States. The study was 

 a joint effort by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries 

 (BSF), now a component of the National Marine 

 Fisheries Services (NMFS), located at Sandy 

 Hook Marine Laboratory, Highlands, New Jer- 

 sey, and the U.S. Coast Guard which provided 

 aircraft and flight crews. Initially monthly ART 

 flights surveyed continental shelf waters between 

 Montauk Point. Long Island and Cape May, New 

 Jersey. A surface isotherm chart was prepared 

 after each monthly survey and was distributed to 

 interested parties. In July 1965. ART survey 

 coverage was extended north to Cape Cod, Mas- 

 sachusetts and south to Cape Fear, North 

 Carolina; and in July. 1966, south to Miami, 

 Florida. Bv 1968. the ART survey had become a 



