ITP27 Deployment Operations

ITP 27 was the third ITP deployed from the Federov in 2008 and was installed on a 2 m ice floe adjacent to the ship, while Russian scientists performed a CTD cast. The location was selected by the Captain and ice observer and was considered acceptable after a survey team drilled multiple 2" holes to determine thickness. All of the deployment gear was hoisted to the ice using the ship's aft crane while the deployment team were lifted to the ice on a wooden pallet and cargo net using the ship's forward crane.

Once the gear was on the ice, sleds and brute strength made the 100+ m transit to the deployment site relatively quick. The deployment proceeded smoothly and took only 2 hours, concluding with a successful inductive modem test to confirm communications between the ITP profiler and surface package. Nearby the deployment site, a Russian ice observer team took ice core samples and determined the floe's thickness in a pre-determined grid pattern. Once finished, the gear was hauled back over to the ship where a rigging team hoisted the items to the hangar deck.

Because the chosen deployment location was adjacent to the ship, the over the side method was preferred. The WHOI and Russian teams as well as deployment gear were lowered over the side via forward and aft cranes. Once on the ice, the gear was transported to the deployment location via sleds.

Kris Newhall tests the inductive modem link to ensure that the ITP profiler and surface package are operational.

Prior to lowering the profiler through the ice hole, Kris Newhall tests the inductive modem link to ensure that the ITP profiler and surface package are operational. Once the profiler is lowered through the hole, it becomes very difficult to recover without damaging the instrument. (Photo by Jeff Pietro)

The last piece of the deployment operation entails sliding the electro-mechanical hose section through the two surface buoy sections and making the mechanical connection. In order to do so, the ITP mooring is stopped off and hung from the tripod using a "Yale" grip stopper line to allow the Kris Newhall and Jeff Pietro to assemble the remaining components, while Sergey Unovidov approaches to assist. (Photo by Mikhail Konstantinov)

Before leaving the deployment site, Newhall connects to the top buoy package to again test the inductive modem link while Pietro begins cleaning and organizing the remaining gear to be transported back to the ship. (Photo by Mikhail Konstantinov)