XBTs

January 25

Yesterday night (January 25) I launched my first XBT - a temperature probe that you "fire" into the ocean from a funny looking gun. I had quite a few spectators, so it was a little intimidating. The launch was a success, however.
Here's a picture of me measuring the temperature profile:

Basically you release a probe from the ship's deck as free fall and as soon as it touches the water it starts measuring. There's a tiny wire connecting the probe to the gun I'm holding - this is how the signal is being transmitted. The wire is so thin, I couldn't see it with a naked eye and I was worried I lost the probe. But my gun kept making spooling sounds, so that was a good sign. At the end someone went inside and confirmed that we do get data on the computer. That's how we knew it was a success!

The probe I had is X-7, going to 760m depth (then the wire breaks and the probe is lost, but the data is already at our computer). People on the ship, especially the crew, are telling me that I'm the biggest polluter - I launch radiosondes, SOCCOM floats and now XBTs. But I have to say it is a lot of fun to see vertical profiles of the air and ocean, especially when it's instantaneously available

I launched another one at 6 AM in the morning on January 26 (Still January 25 UTC time) - I was by myself, not a single sole even to look at the screen inside to see if it worked properly. Such a contrast from last night.
I'm proud to say that I managed and got another profile. Now if only I had more time to sleep in between all this exciting measurements I'm making ;)