Experimental data of the motion and tension of a shallow-water oceanographic mooring is analyzed and compared with results from numerical simulations and analytical modeling. The mooring was an all-chain catenary mooring deployed in 17-m water depth near Duck, NC. Data were collected continuously over a 35-day period. Simulations were performed using Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Cable, an all-purpose computer model for simulating moored and towed cable systems. Using the measured buoy motion as input to the simulations, the author was able to calculate mooring tension that matched the measured values over a wide range of environmental conditions. Simple analytical models gave results that were as accurate and with much less computational effort. The overall conclusion of this study is that one can accurately simulate the dynamics of the mooring fines of these types of moorings given the motion of the buoy.
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