Equipping the Atmospheric Measurement Container
by Julia Schmale
Such a three months expedition requires thorough preparation. For the type of experimental atmospheric sciences that we do, a good preparation basically means that we need to find an appropriate location on the ship where we can safely place our instruments and construct air inlets. For this expedition, we decided to design a new atmospheric measurement container that will accommodate our needs. The video shows how we installed our instrument racks in the container, how it was branded in the name of the Swiss Polar Institute by Präsenz Schweiz, how it was transported to Bremerhaven and how it was lifted onto the ice breaker Akademik Tryoshnikov. In addition to the various instruments in the container that measure in real-time, we installed filter samplers and a cloud and rainwater sampler on the upper deck. The picture shows, where on the ship we are located.
The research vessel is currently on its way from Bremerhaven to Cape Town and a small subset of instruments is being run by our team member Mareike. On 15 December Fiona, Markus and I will arrive in Cape Town to conduct some final installation works before the expedition begins.
