Slideshows
EXPORTS Field Campaign, Spring 2021
List View » The goal of EXPORTS is to track the fate of ocean carbon and study its implications for Earth's carbon cycle. EXPORTS will use advanced ocean observing tools and satellite observations to build a more complete picture of these complex processes. Understanding the location and characteristics of phytoplankton is key to discovering their role in the ocean ecosystem. This is the second of two field campaigns; the first occurred in the North Pacific in August 2018.
On May 13, 2021, EXPORTS researchers aboard three ships (Discovery, James Cook, and Sarmiento de Gamboa) were taking advantage of sunny weather and calmer seas to collect samples. All three ships were at the location marked by the dot in the orange circle. Credit: NASA Ocean Color Image Gallery
Diverse plankton from surface waters seen under a microscope. It is so concentrated that you don’t need to zoom to identify the species. Credit: Laura Holland/ University of Rhode Island
Scientists on the RRS James Cook deploy a sampling rosette. This type of platform allows for the collection of water samples and other information from ocean depths. The RRS Discovery and R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa can be seen in the distance deploying the same instrumentation. Credit: Deborah Steinberg
Scientists aboard the RRS James Cook prepare a test deployment of sediment traps. Credit: Lee Karp-Boss
Deployment of a Wirewalker from the RRS James Cook. The wirewalker is an autonomous, rapid, wave-powered profiling system with bio-optical instruments that provides useful insights about phytoplankton physiology and oceanographic conditions. Credit: Deborah Steinberg
Meg Estapa (University of Maine) on the RRS James Cook successfully recovers the first Neutrally Buoyant Sediment Trap (NBST). NBST’s open at discrete depths, trapping sinking particles and providing an estimate of how much carbon is exported to the deeper ocean. Credit: Lee Karp-Boss
Scientists on the RRS Discovery and RRS James Cook simultaneously perform a one-of-a-kind maneuver to deploy and test similar equipment. Credit: Joel Llopiz
The Sarmiento de Gamboa docked in Vigo, Spain before the launch of WHOI’s Dive and Discover Expedition 17. The R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa will join the RSS James Cook and the RSS Discovery as part of NASA’s EXPORTS mission operating in the same location. Credit: Michelle Cusolito
WHOI scientists and crew board the R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa on April 29 after 14 days in quarantine. Credit: Ken Buesseler
The RRS James Cook docks in Southampton, UK before sailing for the EXPORTS North Atlantic field campaign. Credit: Hannah Gossner
Instruments are loaded onto the R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa in preparation for WHOI’s Dive and Discover Expedition 17. Credit: Michelle Cusolito
Boat/immersion suit drill onboard the RRS Discovery. Credit: Chelsea Nicole
Collin Roesler and Susan Drapeau deploy the HTSRB - also known as the Hester-B or Hyperspectral Tethered Spectral Radiometer Buoy - which carries a sensor used to measure the optical properties of water. Credit: Taylor Crockford
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