Ocean Interactions
Ocean and Atmosphere connecting Scientists, Teachers & Students

January 21, 2005 (Friday)

Daily Journal Entries : Judy | Paquita

I can't remember when I last wrote a true journal entry. Time is a slippery thing on a ship! I sent so many stories I was hoping the folks in charge of the web page would spread them out. In any case, there have been some interesting things going on aboard the now familiar Seward Johnson.

Flux Tower
First off, I'm making some great friendships. We work hard during the day, and even in the night. Sending up the radiosonde is hardest for everyone on the 4 a.m. shift. We send up a balloon every four hours, six a day. They have to be prepared carefully, and sent up on time.

I wish I could say what a typical day for me is, but my hours have gotten all mixed up! For example I retired at 9 p.m. only to wake up at midnight. I stayed up until 4:30 to help with the balloon, then slept until 11:30. I have used the barometer and wet bulb a few times, but everything is so automated on the ship this information is readily available so I can borrow this data very easily. At this point I feel it's more important to spend the time documenting as much information as possible… not just the science, but also the stories of these wonderful people I am with.

I have well over a hundred photographs, and I've interviewed almost everyone on the ship! Each day I learn something more about the technical capabilities of the equipment on board. Paquita and I went up on an upper deck and she explained to me what the "flux tower" is (see the gallery). It has taken Christopher Fairall and Jeff Hare approximately fifteen years to develop. Sergio Pezoa is the electrical engineer on board who has perfected the system and maintains it during this trip. I have a picture of him cleaning the lenses that measure IR radiation from the sun (see the gallery). It's important to clean the lenses because the salt water dries and leaves a film that can corrupt the data. There is a connection to it that takes sea-surface temperatures called the "seasnake." The flux tower is capable of correlating many factors, not only through microscopic measurements but also by calculations. They have been able to study the link that exists between the atmosphere and the ocean. This kind of research has been done in the Pacific, but these are the first measurements scientists have been able to take here in the Atlantic near the equator. It's important for the scientist to see how these measurements compare to what is already known about the Pacific.

  - Judy