Today was a fairly quiet day as the emphasis was shifted away from the ocean science, and onto the on ice program. Michelle, Carl and Richard (all from the Canadian National Research Council) headed out on the ice itself to take profiles of multiyear ice thickness using drill holes and surface-based electromagnetic induction. Their profiles are meant to be coincident with imaging by Radarsat. Justin and Ben, who are also measuring ice thickness, used the day to test their airborne electromagnetic induction sensor which is tethered to the ships helicopter and flown 10-20m above the ice surface at approx. 60 to 80 knots.
A vast majority of the day was spent continuing to troubleshoot the problematic CTD. We still couldn’t pinpoint the error exactly so we ended up cleaning the slip rings on the winch through which the data from the conducting cable passes (the cable used to lower the CTD contains an electric wire in the centre which allows real time data to be viewed during the profile), adding grease sleeves to all connectors including those not in use and finally, to completely sure we got data, we strapped a second, smaller CTD onto the main one.
The usual evening CTD section was quite short (8 stations along the Nares Strait Sill) and supposedly should have only taken 4 hours. But after a couple of problems (again!!) and heavy ice making progress between stations slow, Helen and I finally finished up around 3.30am after starting at 9.30pm. A quick drink of Guinness followed in the officers’ lounge to relax before heading to bed at 4am.
Sorry for the short update but I have been quite busy all day helping to recover moorings and now have to get dressed up warm for this evenings CTD section. Fun Times!
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