Off to a Strong Start: Irminger 12 Begins with Calm Seas and Key Wins

The R/V Roger Revelle departed Reykjavík on July 18 after several days of mobilization and gear loading, including reassembly and testing of the Surface and HYPM moorings. With the surface buoy secured and burn-in restarted, final checks were completed and the team got underway.

Transit to the array site (July 18-20) was smooth, with calm seas. Along the way, Revelle made a brief detour to recover a drifting profiling float from the UK’s National Oceanography Center. The float was retrieved just 40 minutes after being spotted, prompting a big thank-you from NOC for rescuing valuable plankton data and a $150k instrument.

While on site, the team completed a test CTD cast to coordinate shipboard roles and verify the BGC team’s SBE18 pH sensor. Two acoustic releases were also tested. At 20:00 UTC on July 20, Gliders 515 and 548 were launched in the northeast glider box and began their 500-meter test dives. The ship is currently on station conducting a deep CTD glider verification cast.

Tonight, Revelle will transit to the SUMO-11 buoy to run an overnight met survey. Tomorrow, the team plans a 1200-meter CTD cast with the BGC sensor, followed by acoustic communication with the HYPM-11 mooring. Tuesday’s calm forecast, light winds and low seas, looks ideal for deploying the surface mooring.