August 13, 2012 Science Begins - featuring CTD

Science 24 hours-

From a minute past midnight, science has been happening on the Healy. In the wee hours of the morning, researchers began deploying drifters, collecting water, netting plankton, grabbing mud, filming the bottom, observing birds and mammals, and trawling for organisms. The sampling and data collection will continue around the clock until August 24th. Most of us have been working since 6 am. I stopped working at 10 pm to write this journal while others finish the final tests for the day shift. The next group will start when we finish and we will overlap with them when we begin again at 6 am tomorrow.

CTD

Water is collected in long tubes in an instrument called the CTD. When the CTD reaches a certain depth, the top and bottom of the tube snap shut capturing water at that particular depth. The instrument is called CTD as it stands for Conductivity, Temperature, and Density. The instrument is able to collect those measurements, too, as it collects the water. Scientists then empty the tubes of the water to be able to conduct their tests for each depth. The data that they collect allows them to create a picture of the column of water from the top of the surface to the bottom of the sea. Temperature, salinity (salt level), and the types of organisms change at various depths of water.