The High Performance Oceanographic Mooring (HIPOM)

In 1985 and 1986 the Ocean Structures and Moorings (OS&M) Laboratory of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) designed, deployed and recovered a High Performance Oceanographic Mooring in the Gulf Stream. This paper describes the need for this new type of mooring; the design features for substantially increasing the reliability and the performance of subsurface moorings set in strong current regimes; and the special instrumentation developed to monitor the mooring response. The paper then reviews the data acquired during the two month deployment and compares the HIPOM performance against the performance of previous moorings. Finally, recommendations for the design of future high current subsurface moorings conclude the paper.