From: Dana Swift [mailto:swift@runt.ocean.washington.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 11:36 AM
To: Boss, Emmanuel
Cc: Riser, Steve; Scholz, Tim; Webb, Dan; Dorson, Don; Larson, Norge;
wes@wetlabs.com; casey@wetlabs.com; keweebead@verizon.net
Subject: Float 0005 near end of life.


Hi Emmanuel,

Engineering data for float 0005 indicate that it may be nearing the end of
its
life.  There is evidence that the lithium batteries are nearly expended:
   http://runt.ocean.washington.edu/argo/engineering/0005/index.html
This was the very first float deployed with lithium batteries and, not
coincidentally, this will be one of our first floats to die a natural death
(ie.,
expended battery-stores will remaining in an otherwise healthy state).

The float was deployed in June 2004 and it has executed 165 profiles so far.
Your
stated goal at the beginning of this project was that the float should last
2
years with a five-day profile period.   It's hydrographical and optical data
have
remained drift-free.  Unfortunately, the oxygen data have been garbage from
almost
the beginning.

This particular float constituted several important firsts...first AFP9
deployed
with UW firmware, first use of WetLabs sensors on profiling floats, first
use of
lithium batteries in APEX profilers.  The bogus oxygen data were a real
bummer
but, overall, first prototypes of significant new developments don't get
much more
successful than this.

-dds