New Ways to Collect Data in the Antarctic

Conducting Antarctic research is challenging. Not only is the environment difficult, given low temperatures, high winds, and ice cover, but also the availability of sampling platforms is limited. The U.S. National Science Foundation has only two vessels that can routinely operate in ice‐covered wate...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Smith, Walker O., Asper, Vernon
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: The Aquila Digital Community 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/17119
https://aquila.usm.edu/context/fac_pubs/article/18432/viewcontent/new_ways_to_collect_data_in_the_antarctic.pdf
Description
Summary:Conducting Antarctic research is challenging. Not only is the environment difficult, given low temperatures, high winds, and ice cover, but also the availability of sampling platforms is limited. The U.S. National Science Foundation has only two vessels that can routinely operate in ice‐covered waters, the research vessel/icebreaker N.B. Palmer and the Antarctic research support vessel L.M. Gould. The restricted availability of vessels makes research operations difficult to schedule, especially during austral spring and summer. Traditional sampling methods (those confined to ships and moorings) have provided insights into distributions and processes in the Southern Ocean, but new research questions require new sampling means.