ITP 111 Deployment
The first ITP deployed during the MOSAiC expedition was ITP 111 at buoy cluster site L1 from the RV Federov. Conditions were a mostly clear sky, -12.9 C, 90% relative humidity, air pressure of 1020.2 kPa, with a wind speed of 2.6 m/s. The Akademik Fedorov docked alongside the floe, gear was loaded onto the ice via ships crane and the gangway was used to transfer personnel to the ice. The deployment gear was transported to the site located about 300 m from the ship via Nansen sled and snowmobile. The site chosen was close to the ice edge and the ice thickness was 2.8 m at the ITP site. The entire operation took about four hours to complete.
Attaching a Yale grip to the mooring wire to slip the final portion of the buoy into the water. (Photo by Chris Basque)
Connecting the Surface controller to the stretch hose below the buoy hull.
Andrew Davies and Chris Basque augering the 12” hole through 2.8 meter of ice using a Jiffy two-stroke drill. (Photo by Andy Davies)
Davies, Basque, and Sam Cornish move the 790m spool of wire into position on the winch for deployment. (Photo by Andy Davies)
Mounting ITP 111 to the mooring wire for deployment. (Photo by Chris Basque)