A few words about our science

This is schematic map of our upcoming expedition. We will be circumnavigating the Southern Ocean, stopping at several sub-Antarctic islands. Our cruise will consist of three legs:

Leg 1: Cape Town, South Africa to Hobart, Australia

Leg 2: Hobart to Punta Arenas, Chile

Leg 3: Punta Arenas to Cape Town

I will be participating in all three legs, which means about three months at sea. I am excited and terrified at the same time. It would be an unforgettable journey for sure. We have rather ambitious scientific objectives to fulfill, I am sure many of them will get somewhat modified and shaped to suite the existing conditions.

Our project for this cruise is interdisciplinary. Here's a short summary of our project on the Swiss Polar Institute website.

My primary science responsibilities for the field data collection will be two-fold:

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE

I/we will be collecting meteorological data on the snow particle distribution. We will install several sensors to capture this, plus I will take macro-photos of snow flakes to determine particle distribution and crystal structure. This part of my work I usually entitle "taking pictures of snowflakes".  This line works great at social gatherings, believe me :).

We are also collaborating with other atmospheric scientist measuring weather conditions, collecting precipitation samples and such. In expeditions like that all collected data are usually shared among interested science groups, so that each person can concentrate on maintaining their own instruments and obtaining in situ data of the best quality.

We will also be launching radiosondes collecting information about the vertical profile of the atmosphere. We will do semi-regular launches, but also hope to get several profiles crossing atmospheric river events. My colleague Irina and I identified the first atmospheric river reaching Antarctic continent and we are keen to experience an event like this and gather more data. 

Here's a link to our first paper on atmospheric rivers if anyone is interested. 

OCEANOGRAPHY 

I/we will be measuring the saltiness of the Southern Ocean. We are primarily interested in the mixed (top) layer, but we will run all the salinity analysis for everyone else's needs as part of our contribution to the scientific effort of the expedition.

On top of that we will be collecting water samples from the mixed (top) layer of the Southern Ocean for isotope analysis back on land.  Upon our return we will analyze these samples in the lab at British Geological Survey (BIG THANKS!) to determine the sources of water, particularly focusing on abnormally fresh water sources. The goal and the title of our project is to determine the sources of recent freshening of the mixed layers of the Southern Ocean.

We will be deploying six SOCCOM floats - unique long-term laboratories autonomously reporting and collecting physical and chemical data from the Southern Ocean. Deploying these floats will be an adventure and I will try to write more about it as it unfolds.

My one sentence response on what else I will be doing on the cruise besides taking pictures of snowflakes is that I will finally "become an oceanographer".

Ok, this is the end of the science update. Here are a few images for everyone to get excited again:

Me by the docked Akademik Tryoshnikov in Bremerhaven.

Irina on the main deck of Tryoshnikov as it is about to leave the port.

The ship is currently sailing from Bremerhaven, Germany to Cape Town. There is a summer school on-board the ship and this part of the journey is called LEG ZERO. I am (well all of us really are) particularly grateful to students and scientists onboard testing our equipment and identifying potential problems. Even though my inbox everyday is filled with disaster emails, it's better to know now and come up with solutions.

Our hard-working students Nastya and Franzi, Irina and I saying the last-good byes in Bremerhaven. 

First look at Tryoshnikov

Hello,

I finally figured out the platform for my upcoming blog.

A week ago I went to Bremerhaven, where I saw Akademik Tryoshnikov for the first time:

The weather was pretty gloomy and I have to say it was mostly raining during the week I spent in Bremerhaven.

The ship was much smaller inside than I expected, I have been on a cruise on Akademik Fedorov before and I was amazed how much smaller Akademik Tryohsnikov is. There's no big room - even the mess is quite small and consists of two semi-attached rooms. The lab space is also extremely limited, so we will become really close with all our colleagues during the cruise. But the thing that impressed me the most was the hold(трюм) - as the only access to it was through the vertical ladder from the outside (!):

After some deliberations though our science cargo was put into another hold, which has very steep stairs, but they are covered from rain and have railings. So all in all even the scariest part somehow became less scary.

My colleague Irina and I were busy finding space for our atmospheric equipment, while waiting for the ocean equipment to turn up. At the end of the day we were able to locate and secure all our cargo and find suitable places for the future instrument installation as well as cozy inside space for data loggers.

My friends probably know already how many unfortunate things happened to me in Bremerhaven, with me falling off a bike and my computer dying unexpectedly. But I survived the trip and came out stronger on the other side. The most amazing thing for me in adventures like this are always people I meet and connections I build. I am happy to report that while short and not quite "on board" - Bremerhaven trip was really productive in that regard. I look forward to reuniting with some of these wonderful people in Cape Town in a few weeks.

Till later,
Masha