ITP 72 Deployment operations

ITP 72 was the first of five units deployed during the 2013 NABOS cruise. This unit is the last of the ITPs to contain the full bio-suite array of sensors which includes a PAR sensor and flourometer as well as a CTD capable of measuring dissolved oxygen. In addition to the sensors on the profiler we deployed this unit with two SAMIs to measure oxygen, dissolved carbon dioxide, salinity, temperature, and acidity near the surface.

As the Fedorov does not carry helicopters for this cruise the crew maneuvered the ship into an ice field that was thin enough to get through but also thick enough to deploy this instrument. The bulk of the equipment is housed in the helo hangar and had to be boomed down to the ice using the aft starboard crane while the forward starboard crane was used to transport the team of 5 down onto the ice. The ‘man basket’ was nothing more than a cargo net with a pallet to stand on. After lowering the ice observer and John Kemp down onto the ice to measure for thickness we set to the task of transferring gear down to the floe. Kemp and Steve Lambert made use of a large bin for their gear and borrowed an empty MMP crate for the two SAMIs, tool kits, extra clothes, and other small items.

After transferring equipment was complete the work began setting up the tripod, attaching the spool to the winch, cutting through the ice, and so on. A final test of the buoy confirmed that the surface package, profiler and both SAMIs were working.