ALASKA CURRENT METER PROJECT 2007 


The project goal was to provide field support for tidal 
current mooring stations within the State of Alaska to 
update the NOAA Tidal Prediction Tables. The most recent 
data collected in the Prince William Sound (PWS) region is 
from 1976-1978 utilizing older technology and methods. 
Presently, 47 stations in the PWS region are published in 
the NOAA Tidal Current Tables. These stations are all 
secondary and referenced to only two sites. Additional 
reference stations were needed for PWS and Southeastern 
Alaska (SEAK). For the present study a total of sixty (60) 
stations were occupied, forty-five (45) stations in the PWS 
region and fifteen (15) in SEAK. Each deployment was a 
minimum of thirty-five (35) days. Five (5) of the sites were 
reference stations deployed for seventy (70) days, four in 
PWS and one in SEAK. 

Deployment of mooring in Prince 
William Sound, AK. 


SCOPE AND APPROACH 

All meters and mooring equipment including hardware were 
government furnished. Evans-Hamilton, Inc. (EHI) was 
responsible for equipment checkout, including compass 
calibrations, shipping all equipment to AK, and procuring 
the deployment vessels. In addition, EHI located 
emergency response vessels in the event a mooring 
released prior to a retrieval cruise. The emergency 
contacts were located in multiple locations due to the large 
geographic area covered by the mooring locations. Three 

deployments of approximately 15 stations each were 
conducted for PWS. Two deployments of approximately 7 
stations each were conducted for SEAK. Prior to each 
deployment, fresh batteries were installed and the compass 
calibrated for each current meter. CTD casts were 
collected for each deployment site. Reconnaissance 
measurements (depth and bottom substrate) were made 
during each deployment cruise of the stations for the 
follow-on deployment (e.g., recon of deployment 3 sites 
during deployment 2 cruise). 

RESULTS 

The project was 100% successful. All 60 deployed 
moorings were recovered with full data sets. The client 
found the project team was responsive and professional. 

Client Reference 

Mr. Marty Welch 

Center for Operational Oceanographic 

Products and Services 

NOS/NOAA 

(301) 713-2897 
Marty.Welch@noaa.gov 
Project Timeframe 

January – September 2007