Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2006

R/V MIRAI

"Mirai was covered with thin clouds"

Cloudy

Observations:

Radiosonde, CTD, and turbulent flux measurement have been carried out every 3 hours. Other continuous observations were also operated.
At the 3:00 am, videosonde observation was carried out. According to the satellite-based cloud images, there is no significant cloud area in the west of MIRAI, indicating the possibility of the suppressed period of the MJO. In other words, it may be a chance to obtain the data in the preconditioning phase. During the whole day, boundary layer clouds can be found around the MIRAI (photo-1).

Remarks:

As found in the time series of SST at the data page, SST showed diurnal cycle but generally decreased past several days. However, from yesterday SST slightly increases. According to the MJO index by BMRC of Australia, previous MJO terminated. As we originally drafted MISMO project, it may be possible to obtain the data related to the onset of convections. Therefore, we must look more carefully at the current situation.
Today we had a beautiful sunset and many reseachers spent their time after the dinner at deck (photo-2).