11 students and researchers from NERSC and the University of Bergen participated in a 3-day cruise to Bjørnafjorden south of Bergen and the surrounding area, with the Norwegian Coast Guard vessel KV Tor. The cruise was a part of the SFI Smart Ocean project preparing for a mesoscale observing system using acoustic technology.

The primary objective of the cruise was to collect temperature and salinity profiles, which will be used for designing an acoustic observing system in the area. These profiles are needed to run acoustic propagation modelling to get a better understanding of how the sound travels in these fjords, which is important for the design of the system. In addition, the cruise was intended to give Bachelor students at the UiB Department of Physics and Technology an introduction to field work and data collection in ocean science.

Under supervision by the researchers, the students made a total of 25 casts with a CTD rosette (measuring Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth), they carried out two acoustic propagation experiments, and they tested an optical instrument twice. The students got hands-on experience with a wide range of activities: working on deck with the deployment and recovery of the rosette, driving the winch, acquiring data, communicating with the ship, and recording necessary metadata. In addition, the students tested acoustic propagation by transmitting sound from KV Tor and recording the signals at different distances with a receiver deployed from a small boat nearby.

The SmartOcean 2021 cruise was coordinated by NERSC and carried out in collaboration with the UiB Department of Physics and Technology. The cruise was led by Espen Storheim (NERSC).

More information about Smart Ocean: https://sfismartocean.no

Acknowledgements:

We greatly appreciate the support from the crew of KV Tor and the Norwegian Coast Guard for providing the ship time.

KV Tor with a small boat full of students coming onboard in the morning. Photo: Espen Storheim, NERSC

CTD cast taken in Langenuen, a more crowded region compared to the Arctic. Photo: Espen Storheim, NERSC

Student recovering the rosette during an evening cast. Photo: Espen Storheim, NERSC

Group picture. Left to right: Kristine Øxnevad Larsen, Anna Mathea Skar, Torunn Sandven Sagen, Marcus Pira, Mohanad Lotfi Abdallah, Mads Moldrheim, Astrid Stallemo, Elinor Tessin, and Håkon Sandven. (Not present: Kanthee Kosolyuthasarn). Photo: Espen Storheim, NERSC

Map of the CTD locations. Espen Storheim, NERSC