ITP 116 Deployment
As part of the CAATEX East field program, the Norwegian Coast Guard Vessel Svalbard arrived at the North Pole on August 21 around 9:30 in the morning. The weather was warm, and after a celebration on the ice, science operations began. In addition to the deployment of ITP 116, a SIMBA was installed, an ice coring survey was performed and drones were flown over the floe to photograph the ice for analysis. Meanwhile other areas of the ice floe were occupied in conducting polar plunges and a soccer game.
Before noon, the ITP system and deployment apparatus were lowered onto the ice and hauled a short distance from the ship. A 10.5” diameter hole was augered through the 1.55 m thick floe, and the ITP deployed without incident in less than 3 hours. Tests of communications with the underwater profiler were successful, and the deployment apparatus reloaded onto the ship.
