This is something that someone could write a story about. I was walking around the deck yesterday, to get some fresh air and check out the latest cast of the CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) rosette instrument into the water, which will allow scientists to better understand the conditions of the ocean from the surface to the seafloor. After seeing this amazing feat of science and technology, I came across a different kind of artistic handiwork. On some crates on the heli-deck, with the Sun in the sky in the background, was a mama and baby polar bear watching over a snow-woman (I know this from later talking to the artists). That is just begging for a story to be written about it!
Hello, I am a student from Law Enforcement Officers Memorial High School, Why would you need to better understand the conditions of the ocean from the surface to the sea floor based on the information on this posting?
Hi Nicole, the conditions of the layers of the ocean tell us a lot about the ocean. For example, we can detect different currents coming from different parts of the Arctic, or even from the Atlantic or other oceans, and learn how water moves around the globe. Since different water from different places have different characteristics (density, temperature, dissolved oxygen levels, etc), currents can be tracked around the Arctic and the globe. (And if one water layer is higher in density, it may move underneath of another water current of lower density.) This is a great example of how climate and environmental conditions in one place can affect conditions in other places.
What is the CTD Rosette?
Hi Erica, the CTD rosette is the set of instruments that is lowered down into the water to measure water properties and take water samples. CTD stands for conductivity (related to salt content of the water), temperature, and depth (related to water pressure), and the rosette is the whole cage/apparatus that holds all the instruments.