Tuesday 8 January 2008 à 17:16
Petty delays!
Stéphanie Pavoine. Based in Dumont D’Urville station
The containers have not been loaded. Setup is postponed.
Tuesday 8 January 2008 à 13:17
Under pressure!
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
The participants in the CEAMARC program have a few days off and are using the respite to edit their first reports. The Aurora Australis’s trawls are idle while the CASO (Climate of Antarctica and Southern Ocean) program’s operations are underway.
Tuesday 8 January 2008 à 11:51
Data for the Aurora Australis at 12h30
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
Position of the icebreaker:
- latitude: 63°03.350' S
- longitude: 146°29.270’ E
Wind:
- direction: NW
- speed: 10 knots
Water temperature: -0.8°C
Air temperature: 4°C
Atmospheric pressure: 986 hPa
Relative humidity: 85%
UV-B: 4.9 W/m²
Water depth: 3,950 meters
Sunset: 23h11/ sunrise: 03h30
Tuesday 8 January 2008 à 09:53
Position of Aurora Australis
Sophie Mouge. Correspondent aboard the Aurora Australis
FROM: Martin Riddle
DATE: 08/01/08
REPORT (SITREP) NO.: 323
UNIVERSAL TIME: 0100
LOCAL (SHIP) TIME: 1200
AUSTRALIAN EASTERN STANDARD TIME: 1200
POSITION: -62 58S, 145 44E
HEADING: 101T
CURRENT SPEED (KNOTS): 13 Kts
DISTANCE TO NEXT WAYPOINT (NAUTICAL MILES): 20 Nm
DISTANCE COVERED LAST 24
HOURS (NAUTICAL MILES): 143.9 Nm
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Cloud clearing to leave
some patchy, high cloud, good visibility, wind 5 kts from 320T
AIR
TEMPERATURE: 1.0
SEA TEMPERATURE: 0.7
SEA CONDITIONS: Slight seas and low
confused swell 0.5 m
ICE CONDITIONS: Open water.
REMARKS: CTD sampling of waters from the sea-surface to the seabed continues
around the clock for the CASO (Climate of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean)
part of V3. CASO is a major multinational project for the International
Polar Year involving scientists from 18 nations and is led by Australia.
CASO will provide the first circumpolar snapshot of the physical and
biogeochemical state of the Southern Ocean as a benchmark for the assessment
of past and future change. It will also demonstrate the feasibility of a
sustained Southern Ocean observing system. CASO will continue on V6, during
which a transect from Hobart to Antarctica will be sampled. On V3, CASO is
focused on the region close to the Antarctic continental shelf and the fate
of cold, dense 'Antarctic Bottom Water' from the Mertz Polynya. This region
is one of the few places in the ocean where surface waters are made
sufficiently dense to allow them to sink to the deep ocean. This transfer
of water from the surface to the abyss is part of a global system of ocean
currents known as the overturning or thermohaline circulation, which
strongly influences Earth's climate. Our measurements on V3 are aimed at
understanding how the Antarctic contribution to this global current system
works and whether it is changing. We are presently re-occupying sites first
measured on Aurora Australis in the 1994-5 season and are making excellent
progress in unusually calm conditions. Last night we sampled the
northern-most site, nearly 250 miles from the continent and are now heading
east to sample some of the deepest sites which are about 4 kilometres from
the surface to the seabed. Being this far north, we experienced our first,
brief nightfall for the year last night.
Regards, Martin and Sarah.
