Student-Proposed Cruise Captured Wakes of Oahu and Kauai Islands

Abstract

A four-day educational cruise navigated around the leeward side of Oahu and Kauai to observe the thermodynamic and dynamic features of the trade-wind wakes of these small islands by using weather balloons and other onboard atmospheric and oceanographic sensors. This cruise was proposed, designed, and implemented completely by graduate students from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii. The data collected during the cruise show, for the first time, strong sea/land breezes during day/night and their thermal effects on the island wake. This cruise provided the students with a significant, valuable, and meaningful opportunity to experience the complete process of proposing and undertaking field observations, as well as analyzing data and writing a scientific article.