Daily Logs
Week 4
Sunday, September 23, 2001
Monday, September 24, 2001
Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Wednesday, September 26, 2001
Thursday, September 27, 2001
Friday, September 28, 2001
Date: Sunday, September 23, 2001
Photos: Rainy,
stormy day
Latitude: 9o 55.9 N
Longitude: 95o 0.2 W
Temperature: 25.0o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 3-4 feet
Swell wave height: 5-6 feet
Visibility: 2-3 miles
Cloud cover: 8/8
Water Temp: 29.1oC
Science Log: Today's science log is inspired
by the storm that we are right in the middle of. I learned today
that there are 11 pieces of equipment on the ship that all measure
rainfall quantities, and all 11 of them yield different results!
I had no idea that measuring rainfall could be so difficult! Since
many of the researchers on this cruise are looking at clouds and
raindrops, it is worth discussing the problems with measuring
rainfall.
The first challenge is in determining what type
of equipment to use for measuring rainfall. There are three basic
types of rain measuring devices used on the R/V Ronald H. Brown.
1) There are 9 simple rain gauges, that just collect
water in a calibrated tube as it falls.
2) There are 4 disdrometers (including one optical),
which measure the rain drop size and distribution to calculate
rain rate. These devices are used in conjunction with an anemometer
(measures wind speed) to calculate and compensate for the effects
of wind-driven rain on the measurements obtained.
3) Finally, there are 2 optical rain gauges, which
uses an electric pulse to determine the vertical momentum of an
impacting raindrop to determine raindrop diameter. These devices
are used in conjunction with an anemometer (measures wind speed)
to calculate and compensate for the effects of wind-driven rain
on the measurements obtained.
The next challenge in trying to measure rainfall
is in deciding where to place the equipment. Rain rarely falls
straight from the sky- there is usually some amount of wind in
the air that pushes the rain in one direction or another. When
wind is significant, a rain gauge on one side of the ship may
record significant rainfall, while a gauge on the other side may
record nothing. What if the wind is blowing and the rain only
hits the side of the rain gauges, without actually entering it?
How do you make sure that sea spray is not included in the rainfall
measurements?
As it turns out, the Ronald H. Brown has all of
these different types of rain measurement devices placed around
the ship in an effort to record accurate data. Each device will
report different results, and it is very difficult to determine
which one is closest to correct. Who knew that counting raindrops
could be so difficult and scientific?? Why is any of this important?
Well, if we are trying to understand climate better, and all of
the complex variables that affect climate, we need to know what
the current conditions are like. You can't predict rainfall amounts
10 years from now if you don't know how much rain falls this year.
Travel Log: A nice large storm decided to
form today, with the ship right smack dab in the middle of it
all. Hurricane Julliet is in the area, but apparently the "disturbance"
we are feeling is a completely new storm that brewed overnight.
Before I heard any rain I could tell we were in a storm because
most of the night I was being rocked back and forth in bed. I
don't know how anyone can sleep through that! I sleep on the top
bunk, which makes it worse, because I am constantly thinking about
falling out of bed. Many of the operations were cancelled for
parts of the day due to lightning very close to the ship. Exciting,
huh?
Question of the day: What is graupel?
Photo Descriptions: Today's photos:
Rainy, stormy day. Hopefully, today's pictures give you a glimpse
of the conditions we are experiencing. Did you know the bridge
has windshield wipers? Cool. Poor John Shanley was about the only
one working outside today in between lightning storms.
Keep in touch,
Jennifer
Date: Monday, September 24, 2001
Photos: Dr.
Bradley on tower and ship's exercise room
Latitude: 9o 55.6 N
Longitude: 94o 59.3 W
Temperature: 26.7o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 2-3 feet
Swell wave height: 5-7 feet
Visibility: 8 miles
Cloud cover: 8/8
Water Temp: 29.0oC
Science Log: Today I caught up with Dr. Chris Fairall
from NOAA's Environmental Technology Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.
If you recall, he is studying the heat flux between the atmosphere
and the oceans. Dr. Fairall measures a number of parameters to
calculate heat flux, and has obtained some surprising data over
the last couple weeks. In fact, if he didn't have three different
instruments reporting the exact same results, he never would have
believed it. Want to know what he found? It turns out that the
amount of sunlight that reaches the ocean surface is amazingly
low on stormy days (like yesterday), that he's never seen anything
like it! In fact, the sunlight measured during yesterday's storm
was lower than what he's measured in Alaska in the dead of winter!
Here are some numbers to help put this into perspective.
- Normal day in the eastern Pacific Ocean: 280 watts/m
- Normal overcast day in the eastern Pacific Ocean: 100 watts/m
- When we were in the middle of Hurricane Ivo: 28 watts/m
- Yesterday, while near Hurricane Julliet: 3.7 watts/m
The really interesting part of this is that you could see just
fine yesterday with your eyes. I mean, it was a little darker
than normal because of the stormy clouds, but your eyes didn't
tell you "hey, there's no light today". And yet, that's
what the instruments measured. Why is this happening? Well, the
sunlight was absorbed somewhere between the time it left the sun
and the time it reached the earth's surface.
Travel Log: I'd like to introduce you to the exercise
room today. When you're not working, eating or sleeping, there
is not much else to do while at sea. The TV lounge shows movies
twice an evening, but after 18 days at sea, 36 movies have been
shown (many of them have been quite bad, I might add), and you
just need a little something else to do. So there's the exercise
room, which most people seem to be taking advantage of. It has
weight machines, stationary bicycles, and a treadmill, all surrounded
by gas cylinders used for the research. Hence, it is an "exercise/storage
area," but my favorite part is that there is a CD player
in the room. This is the only place on the ship where I can play
the CDs I brought with me without being confined to headphones.
I try to make a date with the treadmill once in a while, and I
am not too proud to admit that I have flown right off the thing
at least once as the ship rocked, the treadmill rocked, but I
tried to keep walking straight. An exercise for the mind as well
as the body.
Question of the day: Professional mariners in the private
sector are employed through the Merchant Marines. The Merchant
Marine Academy trains people to become professional mariners.
What are their admission requirements?
Photo Descriptions: Today's pictures
include one of Dr. Frank Bradley on the tower located on the bow
of the ship. Dr. Bradley works with Dr. Chris Fairall, and routinely
climbs the tower to check his instruments located on top. The
data from all that equipment is processed by a number of computers,
and the cables in their work area would almost certainly make
the fire marshal nervous. There are also a few pictures of the
exercise room, and you can see the gas tank storage in the background
of one shot.
Keep in touch,
Jennifer
Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Photos: Sunny
weather and sea birds
Latitude: 9o 53.4 N
Longitude: 95o 3.3 W
Temperature: 29.8o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 2-3 feet
Swell wave height: 4-5 feet
Visibility: 10-12 miles
Cloud cover: 6/8
Water Temp: 29.2oC
Science Log: Today I checked in with Dr. Amparo Martinez,
our Mexican scientist. Amparo is measuring the amount of aerosols
in the atmosphere, and she uses a gas chromatograph (GC) to obtain
a lot of her data. Amparo has been up until 3:00 or 4:00 am many
nights trying to get the GC to work properly. She has lots of
tools, and lots of experience working with GCs, but just isn't
successful in getting this one to behave.
Today's message for you is the importance of careful planning
when you are a scientist at sea. Amparo bought a new GC to use
for this cruise, so that her colleagues could continue to use
the one in the lab for their own research. Once she received approval
from the university to purchase this expensive piece of equipment,
it took forever to actually get the money. As soon as she had
the money available, she bought the GC. She spent a day in Mexico
unpacking it to make sure all the parts were in the box, then
promptly shipped it to the U.S. to be loaded on the ship. All
of her equipment entered the U.S. in New York, where it had to
pass customs inspections before continuing its trip to Seattle.
Well, for some reason it took 2 whole weeks for her equipment
to get through New York, and it arrived in Seattle the day before
the ship departed.
Keep in mind that once the ship departs, you can't run out to
your favorite electronics store for spare parts and tools. Amparo's
original plan was to spend a full week in Seattle setting up the
GC, calibrating it, and testing it, which would give her plenty
of time to remedy any problems. As it turned out, she had less
than 24 hours, and wouldn't you know it, the thing has problems.
Poor Amparo has been pulling her hair out trying to get this thing
to work, with no luck.
There's another lesson here. Be creative with your solutions.
Scientists encounter problems all the time, and they have to find
solutions. There is no 1-800-technical-support line to call when
you are the expert in your field. Science is almost like a game-
you encounter problems, and you want to find the most efficient
and appropriate way to solve them. Since Amparo can't analyze
her gas samples while on the ship, she will have to wait until
she gets home. But during that time she is concerned that the
amount of gas in her samples may change, which would invalidate
her data. This is why it is very handy for scientists to have
"standard" samples that can be used as reference. A
standard is something with precisely known contents similar to
what you are studying, and they can be used as controls in an
experiment.
Each day, as Amparo prepares her sample vials, she includes a
vial of her standard and stores them all together. Every minute
between now and when the samples are finally analyzed, 4-5 weeks
from now, the standard will be right there with her samples. If
her samples undergo pressure and temperature changes while flying
home, so will her standard. If small amounts of gasses escape
her sample vials, they will also escape from the standard. Since
she knows exactly how much of the different gasses are in her
standard, she can calculate loss and changes when she analyzes
it, and apply those same calculations to her standards. In the
end, she will have valid data, even though the GC on the ship
was never operational. See how easy that was?
Science is a lot more than numbers and flasks. It requires a
range of problem-solving skills, flexibility, teamwork and patience.
These things all put together keep a scientist's job interesting!!
It's a great career for people who are good thinkers. But if you
decide instead that you would rather be an accountant for the
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, please process money
requests quickly so that Amparo can buy the equipment she needs!
Travel Log: Well, I am really bummed that the live webcast
scheduled for today didn't work. We had all sorts of technical
problems, and after an hour and a half of trying to fix it, we
finally figured we had lost our audience. I had some really neat
things to show you all! Instead of making you wait until next
week, I thought I would at least answer one question (my favorite
one). Meghan from Mrs. Byer's class at Northley Middle School
in Pennsylvania asked "Have you ever had any interference
from sea creatures when using the MMP?"
Since I wasn't sure of the answer, I asked Dr. Mike Gregg from
the University of Washington, who is in charge of the research
that uses the MMPs. I was surprised to learn that yes, they do
get interference from sea creatures. In fact, he even showed me
a piece of cable that had fish teeth marks all over it! On other
cruises he has had cables with shark teeth marks on it, and one
time, a shark chomped on the line so hard that it broke, and the
MMP sunk to the ocean floor where it still lies today! I thought
it was a cool story, but Dr. Gregg was upset that such an expensive
piece of equipment had been lost.
Question of the day: What is the process for becoming
a NOAA officer? What are the prerequisites?
Photo Descriptions: Today's photos:
Today we had beautiful weather, which was such a nice change from
the stormy conditions we had experienced the last several days.
We even had a small flock of sea birds flying around the ship.
So today's pictures focus on the birds and the sunshine that made
us all smile.
Keep in touch,
Jennifer
Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2001
Photos: Ron
Brown Crew
Latitude: 9o 55.7 N
Longitude: 95o 0.2 W
Temperature: 27.9o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 2-3 feet
Swell wave height: 3-4 feet
Visibility: 8-10 miles
Cloud cover: 8/8
Water Temp: 29.0oC
Science Log: Today I checked in with the lidar folks from
NOAA's Environmental Technology Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.
My roommate, Janet Intrieri, is one of two people working with
the lidar to collect data about winds, clouds, and moisture in
the air. Unfortunately, the data being collected is so sophisticated
that Ms. Intrieri and her coworker, Dr. Raul Alvarez won't have
reportable results for years to come. I can tell you that Ms.
Intrieri and Dr. Alvarez are up at all hours of the night and
day collecting data, making adjustments to the equipment, and
archiving data. On many occasions, she wakes up to go to work
only a couple hours after I go to sleep. The lidar is definitely
the most labor-intensive piece of equipment on the ship, and through
my roommate's comings and goings it is very clear to me that only
a truly dedicated scientist could successfully gather all the
necessary data with the lidar to make the trip from Boulder worthwhile.
Travel Log: After reading my logs over the last 3 weeks,
are you convinced yet that you are ready to pursue a career as
a NOAA officer? You can travel the world, put your interest in
science and engineering to use, and live a truly unique and interesting
life. Of course, you also have to be willing to spend half of
your adult life at sea away from family. But you also never have
to deal with sitting in traffic, going grocery shopping, or being
trapped in a cubicle until you hit retirement.
I think it is finally time that I introduce you to the 5 NOAA
officers on the Ronald H. Brown. I'll introduce you to the female
officers, both ensigns, today, and the others tomorrow.
Ensign Cathy
Martin- Cathy is the Navigation Officer on the ship. As
an Ensign, she is new to the NOAA corps, and this is her first
assignment since her initial 3-month training. When Cathy finishes
her 2 years of ship service in January 2002, she will be transferred
to NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center in Tampa, Florida, where
she will begin a career as a pilot. NOAA operates aircraft for
scientific research purposes, and it is the NOAA officers that
fly the planes. Cool, huh? Cathy will fly planes for marine mammal
surveys, aerial photography, snow surveys, atmospheric chemistry
studies, hurricane research... you name it, they do it.
Ensign Jenn
Pralgo- The newest officer on the ship, Jenn is still
in the training phase of her career. Just like all NOAA officers,
she completed 3 months of training at the Merchant Marine Academy
in Kings Point, Long Island, New York. Her goal is to learn as
much as she can so that she can qualify to be an Officer of the
Deck (OOD). In addition to their other duties, all officers are
the OOD on the bridge for 4-8 hours a day. The OOD is responsible
for the operations of the ship during their shift. The Captain
is on call 24 hours a day, but it's the other officers who man
the bridge under normal operating conditions. When Jenn completes
her 2 years at sea, she will have a land assignment for 2-3 years,
and return to sea for another 2. She can expect this pattern to
continue for the duration of her career with NOAA.
Question of the day: NOAA is one of the 7 uniformed services
in the U.S. government. Can you name the other 6?
Photo Descriptions: Today's photos:
Today I am sending photos of each officer on the ship (except
the Captain, whose pictures have been posted several times previously).
On special occasions they wear their uniforms, but for day to
day work they usually wear t-shirts with the Ronald H. Brown picture
and call sign.
Keep in touch,
Jennifer
Date: Thursday, September 27, 2001
Photos: Fire
and abandon ship drill
Latitude: 9o 59.8 N
Longitude: 94o 59.7 W
Temperature: 25.8o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 2-3 feet
Swell wave height: 3-5 feet
Visibility: 8 miles
Cloud cover: 8/8
Water Temp: 28.8oC
Science Log: Test question... which researcher on the
ship is looking at chlorophyll in the ocean? That's right, Dr.
Carter Ohlmann from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
If you recall, he collects water samples obtained by the CTD at
various depths (to 300 meters) and looks at the amount of chlorophyll.
He correlates that with the amount of sunlight that is detected
at those same depths, which is measured by the SPMR. The greater
the amount of chlorophyll, the less light than can penetrate to
depths below. The more thermal energy that is trapped above the
phytoplankton (which contains the chlorophyll), the warmer the
upper layers should be, and the cooler the lower layers. What
Dr. Ohlmann is trying to do is quantify the relationship between
chlorophyll and light penetration in the ocean.
Once Dr. Ohlmann arrives home to Santa Barbara, California, biological
oceanographers will enter the picture by analyzing nutrient concentrations
in the same water samples collected by the CTD on this cruise.
Those scientists will try to correlate the nutrients with the
light and chlorophyll data Dr. Ohlmann is analyzing. In the end,
they hope to have better input values for climate modelers, and
will gain better understanding of the carbon cycle as it relates
to photosynthesis in the ocean.
As with most scientists on the ship, Dr. Ohlmann will be spending
the next several years analyzing the data he is collecting on
this cruise. I was lucky enough, however, to get a sneak preview
of some of his data. He showed me two plots of chlorophyll in
the ocean to 100 meters at two very close locations. It was interesting
to see that one graph showed 400% more chlorophyll than the other
where the graphs peaked, around 45 meters deep. Were there currents
moving a pocket of high nutrient water into our vicinity? How
large is this pocket? What caused it to exist? Or is the high
nutrient water "normal" and the low nutrient water the
odd-ball? There are a lot of questions to be answered. The way
the ocean mixes is important to understand if we hope to forecast
climate.
Travel Log: Today I will introduce you to the remaining
three officers on the ship and tell you a little about each of
their responsibilities.
Captain, Commanding Officer (CO) Don
Dreves- As you probably expect, the Captain is the one
person who is in charge of everything and everyone on the ship.
He is responsible for the safety of the ship and everyone on board,
and for operating the ship in accordance will all pertinent regulations.
The Captain must delegate a lot of responsibilities to the other
officers, but ultimately it's his butt on the line. The average
NOAA officer can expect to reach the rank of Captain after approximately
23-25 years of service.
Commander, Executive Officer (XO) George
White- The XO is second in command, almost like a "Vice
Captain." He would be in charge of the ship in the event
that the Captain was unable to do so. The XO's main responsibilities
on the ship include the administration of the vessel, all human
resources issues (ex. payroll, benefits, grievances), and keeping
people happy and comfortable. The ship's crew all have very specialized
talents and training, and it can be very difficult to replace
people when they leave. If the XO can keep everyone happy, his
ship administration duties will be that much easier. The XO makes
all arrangements with the ports that the ship visits, to make
sure that everyone on the ship has the proper clearances to enter
the country, make sure that there is a place for the ship to dock,
makes arrangements for equipment and personnel to be transported
on and off the ship, etc. The average NOAA officer can expect
to reach the rank of Commander after approximately 16-19 years
of service.
Lieutenant Robert
Kamphaus- Robert is the Operations Officer on the ship.
As such, he is responsible for helping the scientific party prepare
and complete their missions. Robert coordinates with the chief
scientist on each cruise many months ahead of the actual cruise
dates and conveys the ships characteristics, features, and limitations.
He also makes sure that the Cruise Instructions (drafted by the
chief scientist) are realistic and feasible. At this point in
time, Robert is not only working with the scientific party that
is currently on the ship, but he is working with the scientists
that will be on the Galapagos-Chile cruise, the Chile-Panama cruise,
and even some scientists who will be boarding the ship next spring
when the Ronald H. Brown travels to Brazil, Barbados, and the
U.S. Virgin Islands.
Question of the day: If you wanted to pursue a career
as a NOAA officer, what would NOAA train you to do?
Photo Descriptions: Today's photos:
Today we had another fire drill and abandon ship drill, but this
time it was a little more exciting- we had to actually don our
gumby suits! So here are a few pictures of yours truly and the
people I will be sharing a life raft with in the event we have
to abandon ship. And I'd like to point out that it takes an enormous
amount of self-confidence to publish a picture like this of myself
on the web!
Just in case you were worried that we are all working too hard,
I thought I would ease your concerns by including a couple pictures
of my shipmates in the movie lounge. These pictures were taken
just before we watched "The Wizard of Oz," played to
the Pink Floyd CD "Dark Side of the Moon." Very groovy
experience. If you want to try this at home, start the CD when
the MGM lion growls for the third time.
Keep in touch,
Jennifer
Date: Friday, September 28, 2001
Photos: CTD
coming out of water
Latitude: 9o 57.4 N
Longitude: 94o 56.8 W
Temperature: 25.8o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 2-3 feet
Swell wave height: 3-4 feet
Visibility: 8 miles
Cloud cover: 7/8
Water Temp: 28.7oC
Science Log: I previously mentioned that there are other
aspects to the EPIC program aside from the research being conducted
aboard the Ronald H. Brown. Although rarely visible to us on the
ship, there are C-130 and P-3 aircraft flying out of Huatulco,
Mexico in a grid pattern dropping sondes to collect atmospheric
and oceanic data as they fall to the ocean floor. Another piece
of this program is the National Science Foundation (NSF) vessel
New Horizon. We were barely able to see them today off in the
distance, but they have been in our general vicinity for much
of the cruise, making butterfly patterns in the ocean to gather
ocean cross-sections of data. Whereas the researchers on the Ronald
H. Brown are gathering intensive data about this particular spot
(10N, 95W), the New Horizon is gathering a limited amount of data,
but for a much larger area.
Travel Log: Today is my second annual 28th birthday. I
could write an entire book about my fear of any age over, and
including, 29, but I'll spare you from reading it here.
I received really cool electronic birthday cards from Mrs. Byer's
Honors Science class at Northley Middle School in Pennsylvania
- thank you so much!!!
The biggest surprise of all was when the computer guy, Larry,
asked me to help him do some stuff on the computer while he was
on the bridge in the radar room connecting to the satellite, 4
floors up- "Jennifer, all you have to do is click here when
I call you. That way, I won't have to run up and down the stairs
to do it myself." Sounded innocent enough. Well, when I clicked
there, I was treated to a video of my husband, Rob, wishing me
happy birthday and sending his greetings. It was so cool to see
and hear him!! But then, there was more. The screen said "La
Jolla Passers-by" and the next video was of two complete
strangers in La Jolla, California wishing me happy birthday! Apparently,
they saw Rob being taped and decided to get in on the action themselves.
Very, very funny. And there was still more- the next video was
of my parents in Virginia singing me happy birthday, an annual
tradition usually limited to a telephone call! I must say, if
this is a true reflection of NOAA as an organization, they sure
do a great job of keeping people happy while at sea!
To my NOAA contacts in Maryland- Jennifer Hammond and John Kermond-
thanks a million times over for tracking down my loved ones and
sitting them in front of the camera!!!
The birthday celebration continued into the evening, and I was
so surprised when Richard, the chief steward, brought me a birthday
cake as I finished my dinner! Everyone in the mess sang, and it
was very cool. The rest of my 2nd annual 28th birthday celebration
will have to wait until I get home. I told my husband to exercise
his vocal cords so he can sing to me when I call tonight. Sound
romantic? Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be- he's pretty much
tone deaf (and still in denial).
Question of the day: Twenty-nine years ago I was born
near Oxon Hill, Maryland. How many miles am I from my birthplace?
Photo Descriptions: Today's photos:
Today I am sending more CTD pictures. The CTD is the largest object
that is submerged in water for the research being conducted on
the ship, and it's always kind of cool to watch it rise out of
the ocean, with water pouring off its sides, until it finally
comes to a rest on the ship's deck. If you make a little book
out of the pictures I am sending today, and you flip the pages
really fast, it will be just like you're here with me on the ship
watching!
Keep in touch,
Jennifer
Date: Saturday, September 29, 2001
Photos: Mess
hall, Richard, and Michelle
Latitude: 9o 54.9 N
Longitude: 95o 1.0 W
Temperature: 28.0o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 3-4 feet
Swell wave height: 4-6 feet
Visibility: 8-10 miles
Cloud cover: 7/8
Water Temp: 28.7oC
Science Log: A few evenings ago we had a science seminar
in the library. I was asked to share the work I have done on the
cruise with the scientific party and crew, and they seemed impressed
with the lesson plans and daily logs. Now they understand why
I am constantly hogging the computer!
Following my brief presentation and show-and-tell, we all enjoyed
lectures by Dr. Rob Cifelli from Colorado State University, and
Ms. Michelle Ryan from NOAA's Environmental Technology Laboratory
in Boulder, Colorado. They are both working with radar to collect
meteorological data, but their radar systems vary enough to allow
them to collect different types of data. I told you a few days
ago about some of the results obtained by Dr. Cifelli regarding
the internal structure of clouds and cloud electrification, so
today I'll bring you up to date on what Ms. Ryan is learning about
atmospheric conditions in the eastern Pacific Ocean with her ka-band
radar and radiometers.
As expected, the amount of water vapor in the air is much larger
here than in non-tropical places in the world. We have a lot of
evaporation, and a large body of water. Ms. Ryan found it interesting
that there have been so many small, low cumulus clouds with a
clearly defined base. This is data she has not typically seen
anywhere else. What does it mean? I got a familiar answer- it
will be years before all the data is quality-checked, reviewed,
processed, analyzed, correlated with data collected by other scientists
on the ship, and finally ready for conclusions worthy of publication.
So I guess we'll just all have to check back in with these scientists
in a few years.
Travel Log: Today we have had some eerie scenery, in my
opinion. The swell is unusually large, and everyone on the ship
is walking like a drunken sailor (in the words of the XO) as our
center of balance constantly, and sometimes dramatically, changes.
We have sun above us, with nice cumulus clouds in three directions,
and a large dark gray mass in the other. There is definitely a
storm nearby, and we are feeling the effects. If you stand out
on deck and watch the water moving it's almost creepy how dark
and tall the waves are, and we are seeing white-caps for the first
time on the trip. Hopefully it will pass soon.
Question of the day: Some of my students are interested
in science, but are not sure which area of science they would
like to pursue in college. List as many different scientific disciplines
as you can (ex. meteorology, oceanography, etc.).
Photo Descriptions: Today's photos:
Today I am sending a variety of pictures highlighting the ship,
its crew, and food. So many students have asked about the food
on the ship, so I'm sending a picture of the buffet line in the
mess, some people enjoying mealtime, and Richard, the chief steward
(head cook), who does a fantastic job of mixing simple ingredients
into really yummy stuff. Of course, I also have to show off my
birthday cake from last night. Richard made dozens of them so
everyone had their own. Isn't that sweet? You can probably tell
from the photo how happy and surprised I was about the whole thing!
The last picture being sent today shows Michelle Ryan and one
of her radiometers.
Keep in touch,
Jennifer
Read Week 5 Daily
Logs
Note for educators: Although Jennifer and Jane's reseearch cruise ended, the EPIC research continues. Please use this web site, Jennifer and Jane's lesson plans, daily logs, the videos, and the photos to educate your students about climate, El Niño, and scientific research in general. Consider this web site, as well as the TAO web site, a resource for teaching your students. Many organizations and countries are involved in funding the EPIC Experiment. Primary U. S. funding is provided by The National Science Foundation and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This website is maintained and frequently updated by
NOAA's Office of Global Programs
ogpwebmaster@noaa.gov.
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