I am constantly astounded at what these scientists/students are doing in their work. It’s not just about what they do or what their field of research is (which is impressive enough), but also that they are so passionate about what they do, and are still so interested in working together and learning more from each other. My background in science (physics and astronomy) is completely different from anyone else’s here, so I am also learning every day too as part of the onboard NABOS Summer School. Here’s more “greatest hits” from our ongoing student presentations.
Marika (from Finland) talked about the Fram Strait, the only deep connection between the Arctic and the rest of the oceans. Located between Greenland and Svalbard, it is an important place for the exchanges of water between the Arctic and Atlantic. Water masses transport heat and salt as part of global circulation. In the Fram Strait, warm water heads north (and recirculates back), and cold water heads south. She referred to understanding Arctic Ocean circulation as one of the most important challenges in the field.
Antoine (from Belgium) works on models to understand and predict conditions in the oceans and sea ice. He uses NEMO – the Nucleus for European Modeling of the Ocean – as a “globally-forced, coupled ocean and sea ice model.” Here’s what that means. “Global” means it’s a simulation of the whole world ocean… “Forced” means he inputs atmospheric conditions like temperature and wind into the model. “Coupled” means there are interactions between the ocean and sea ice… and “Model” means that these things are numerically computed step by step. Now everyone else wants him to teach them how he does it.
Svetlana K. (who is from Russia) started her presentation with beautiful satellite images of Earth, then explained the methods and applications of how remote sensing of the ocean works. Satellites use radiometry (which means they measure the radiation from the Earth’s surface), but as detailed and colorful as those satellite images can be, there are limits to the resolution. And resolution doesn’t just mean how sharp the image is. It can also refer to how well the satellite can differentiate slight color differences or light intensities, and even if the satellite is able to take multiple images of the same place at different times.
