Climate

On Our Way: Avoiding the Storm

We are now aboard the R/V Palmer and on our way to East Antarctica. Due to two storms in our direct way we are heading west first to go around the storms and we’ll then head south on their backside.

By
Frank Nitsche
March 30, 2015
Map showing the planned track of our expedition with the modifications made due to the storm systems. Our main study areas are on the continental shelf in front of some major East Antarctic glaciers.
Map showing the planned track of our expedition with the modifications made due to the storm systems. Our main study areas are on the continental shelf in front of some major East Antarctic glaciers.

We are now aboard the R/V Palmer and on our way to East Antarctica. Due to two storms in our direct way we are heading west first to go around the storms and we’ll then head south on their backside. After passing the 200 mile zone off of Australia we turned some of the instruments on that collect data constantly while ship is under way. These instruments measure properties including surface water temperature, water depth, gravity, and weather data. In addition to their specific scientific missions research ships like the Palmer are also floating observatories that collect important data from remote areas of the world.

Follow @FrankatSea for additional updates and images from the Southern Ocean.

Tags
Antarctica Climate data fieldwork geophysics glaciers Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Oceanography polar science research West Antarctica