Set Sail to Learn About the Sea and Sky

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Set Sail to Learn About the Sea and Sky

by Erica Van Coverden

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's newest Eagle class ship provides both scientists and passengers with unprecedented opportunities to learn about the ocean and atmosphere. The Explorer of the Seas set sail on October 28, as the first cruise ship equipped with full size oceanographic (1200 square feet) and atmospheric (900 square feet) laboratories and instrumentation.

Click on image for larger view.

The project is a result of a joint effort between RCCL, University of Miami's Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, (AOML) and the National Science Foundation. Each entity committed personnel and/or funding to design and equip the Explorer.

Scientists from AOML and RSMAS will join cruises from Miami, Florida to the U.S. Virgin Islands on a weekly basis, conducting experiments, guiding tours, and giving talks to visitors. The Explorer transports an estimated 3100 passengers per week, representing a major public relations opportunity.

Ocean laboratory on board the Explorer. Click on image for larger view.

In addition to the two labs, there are interactive learning areas on the Explorer, one for oceans and one for atmosphere. The Ocean side lets curious passengers experiment with wave mechanics and follow a touch screen tutorial about the oceans. The Atmospheric side describes the structure of a hurricane and allows passengers to view themselves through the eyes of an infrared camera.

The program is just underway but already has scientific equipment aboard, including:

38kHz and 150 kHz hull mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP)
Continuous flow through seawater system
Aft Weather station
Wind Profiler
Micropulse Lidar
Microwave Radiometer
MAERI (measures very surface of ocean temperature)

Explorer's cruise track intersecting the flow of global circulation from the southern Atlantic into the Caribbean and out to the North Atlantic as the Gulf Stream. Click on images for larger view.

Visualization of the ADCP using sound waves to measure the flow of large scale ocean currents as the ship sails over them.

Explorer will repeat a cruise track from Miami to the Bahamas (across the Florida Straits) southward through the Antilles islands in the eastern Caribbean, with weekly round trips. This route has particular significance to studies of Atlantic circulation, crossing the warm-water limb of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC). NOAA has been monitoring directly and indirectly the Florida Current transport since the early 1980s.

Data gathered on board Explorer will augment climate studies as the correlation between the Florida Current transport and the North Atlantic Oscillation Index is known to be an important North American climate indicator. Upper ocean velocity and transport measurements will also be important aspects of a regional ocean observing system under development, providing boundary conditions and validation information for real-time numerical models used to forecast regional coastal conditions.

African dust moving in the atmosphere towards the Caribbean. Click on image for larger view. Photo courtesy University of Miami's Rosenstiel School

Sea Water Monitoring and Biological Backscatter Measurements made with the ADCP will illuminate the short term biological and chemical variability in this system, a scenario that has confounded interpretation of many upstream studies.

Atmospheric measurements will enable scientists to observe the atmospheric transport of material from North Africa and southern Europe in the trade winds and pollutants from North America during winter months.

For more information about the research labs on board Explorer of the Seas, including an electronic tour of the ship, please visit the web site at http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/rccl/

The mission of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory is to conduct a basic and applied research program in oceanography, tropical meteorology, atmospheric and oceanic chemistry, and acoustics. The program seeks to understand the physical characteristics and processes of the ocean and the atmosphere, both separately and as a coupled system.

The principal focus of these investigations is to provide knowledge that will ultimately lead to improved prediction and forecasting of severe storms, better utilization and management of marine resources, better understanding of the factors affecting both climate and environmental quality, and improved ocean and weather services for the nation.

[12/05/00]