We celebrated another birthday on the ship! Alexey is one of our scientists on the meteorology team. He works with the team doing atmospheric observations, and is also responsible for monitoring the ocean swells during the expedition. A blush-inducing round of a happy birthday song at dinner was followed by delicious cake, and I wanted to say happy birthday again, or день рождения, to Alexey!
Hey Lindsay, I happen to have a question for the birthday boy Alexey. He was monitoring ocean swells during the expedition and I researched a little more about them. If ocean swells aren’t generated by wind then what are they generated by and how can he monitor them?
Hi Yohandra, I’m glad you have looked into it yourself a little bit, and thanks from Alexey! We can measure swells from satellites which can tell us sea surface heights, but in general swells in any ocean can definitely be caused by wind, tides, earthquakes, etc, and the size of the swell depends on something called the “fetch,” which is the amount of space over which the wind is blowing in one direction. So if we see swells without wind conditions, we look for another cause.
Hi Lindsey, I was wondering if you were using a radiosonde in the arctic and how you use one?
Hi Rachel, yes, it was the main responsibility of one of the scientists onboard to release radiosondes to get atmospheric data – he released them every 6 hours, day and night!
Hello Lindsay,
I would first like to wish Alexey a Happy Birthday, but my main question today involves the topic of Birthdays. How do Birthday celebrations on the ship differ from the birthday celebrations you would have back at home? What types of activities do you partake when having a birthday party on the ship?
Hi Ja-Kara, I passed on the birthday wishes, and thanks! Birthdays are fun for everyone, because we have cake, and have everyone sign a card from all over the world!