Conducting Marine Science in the Arctic - The Changing Arctic Environment: The Arctic Messenger - page 225

pleted with an autoanalyser in one of the many specialist labs on board. In the absence of
ice, you could even consider using a moving vessel profiler (MVP). This device is towed
behind the ship and can carry a variety of sensors, including a CTD and a fluorometer (for
chlorophyll measurements). While being towed, it can maintain a sequence of falling to a
determined depth (or until it senses the bottom) and returning to the surface.
Plankton sampling may be undertaken using a multinet system, enabling the samples
to be collected from preset depth ranges. Taxonomic analyses can be conducted on board
with the aid of computerised reference material. It is possible for primary production stud-
ies to be completed on the ship. There are special facilities available for trace metal ana-
lyses and a portable laboratory for mercury studies. Current meters resembling those used
inthe1970sarestillamodern-dayworkhorse,butotheroptionsareavailable, suchasthose
that use acoustic Doppler profiling.
However, there is a growing problem with modern deep-sea oceanographic ships
wherevertheymaybeoperating.Theyareverycostlytorun.A70-75-metre-longnon-Arc-
tic ship costs about US$36,000 per day. It is more for an icebreaker. Scientists are often re-
luctant to prepare proposals that involve such ships, and consequently, many of the present
vesselsareunderutilized. Tofurtheraggravatethesituation,mostoftheworld'sfleetisnow
elderly and in need of replacement. At the same time, there is the impact of the technolo-
gical revolution that has transformed oceanography. We glimpsed this on our tour of the
Amundsen , which was equipped with an MVP. The pivotal year is said to have been 1978,
which saw the launch of Seasat , the first satellite to be devoted to remote sensing of the
ocean. It unfortunately had a premature end, but in its three months of operation, it is said
to have collected as much data on sea surface temperature, wind speed and ice conditions
as had been collected by all ships in the preceding 100 years.
After the advent of Seasat , more and more of the data used by oceanographers today
do not depend on the use of a deep-sea oceanographic vessel. The capacity of modern
remote sensing from satellites is quite astonishing. For example, the Moderate Resolu-
tion Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite has provided monthly
mapsofglobalsurfacechlorophyll concentrations, whichcanbeusedtoinferabundance of