Comments on: Seaglider #189 Away!

By: Eric Lindstrom

Eric Lindstrom — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 20:44:36 +0000

One glider makes a small contribution to our understanding of the overall ocean structure and prediction. As we learn the value of their data and how they are best used we may see them deployed in larger numbers. Argo floats are a good example of a successful technology development of the 1990s that is now deployed globally (3561 reporting last time I checked a few days ago). That has revolutionized our knowledge of temperature and salinity in the upper ocean. The Argo floats are a workhorse of SPURS. The Seagliders and Wavegliders will get a good workout in in SPURS during the next year.
Eric

By: Prof. Vikas Nayak

Prof. Vikas Nayak — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 19:06:34 +0000

If this glider succeeds to gather more information from beneath the sea and ocean then a lot of natural calamities can be learnt quite in advance along with the nature and extent of the peril.

By: Eric Lindstrom

Eric Lindstrom — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 21:08:28 +0000

Mr John Richardson.
You made my day. (That and a few more successful glider deployments!) Thank you for your kind words. It has been a pleasure to work on these postings from the field and try to share some of my decades of enthusiasm for oceanography. Its much easier to do this while in the middle of such an exciting expedition. I would certainly like the science to be interesting and approachable by all. The ocean does play a key role in our lives and welfare.
Kindest Regards
Eric

By: Eric Lindstrom

Eric Lindstrom — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 21:00:02 +0000

Thanks for you comment. We are indeed excited to be using the Seagliders. We launched 2 more today (#190 and #191). This technology is now quite mature and we at NASA owe much to those who developed the ocean glider technology over the last few decades. I plan to talk more about that in a future post.
Eric

By: Eric Lindstrom

Eric Lindstrom — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 20:55:44 +0000

I think you have captured some of the goals of SPURS in your comment. Satellites are excellent in providing large-scale context of properties at the ocean surface. Likewise, in situ monitoring via Argo floats and surface drifters provide some more detail but relatively sparse in space and time. SPURS uses some of the same technologies from the ship, but we are looking in detail at one small piece of the ocean (representative of some larger expanses). Putting all these pieces together into a seamless whole is what we are trying to achieve – for salinity in particular.
Eric

By: John Richardson

John Richardson — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:00:26 +0000

How nice it is to read modern (and scientific!) commentary from such a well-read person as Mr. Lindstrom. It just shows what someone with a well-rounded education could do to enliven any subject they chose to write about.

Scientific commentary can be (and usually is) very dry and heavily laden with subject-focused, technical terms and words aimed at other experts in that field. It certainly does not lend itself to be of interest to any in the non-scientific, rest-of-world population.

There are plenty of non-scientific people in this world (alas, yours truly, for one) who love reading about the various scientific endeavors going on in this world. It is appreciated when the article is written to convey what is happening without bogging down with unnecessary technical terms. The author can show a link to those papers as interest warrants.

I, for one, thank you, Mr. Lindstrom, for your eloquence. It is sorely missed in this world of ours.

By: Nemo Hua

Nemo Hua — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 12:15:40 +0000

Autonomous mechanism is great!!!! More and more systems like this is coming to life. I am so excited!!! I am a Chinese student in Senior 3 when life is busy and boring. It’s pretty great to read articles like this-intruducing a brand new Seaglider! And the sexy pink makes me really freshed.

By: V. Muralidhar

V. Muralidhar — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 06:25:27 +0000

It is very interesting to see the technology which will monitor ocean parameters from close ranges, instead of the usual method of observations through low altitude remote sensing satellites which will not give a close situation reading this type of sensors can give. The development of sensors for such a mission must have been challenging. It will be nice to know what type of macro result or scenario is expected to be derived out of these observations.

By: James

James — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Fortnight & thrice? What century do you think this is?

By: Eric Lindstrom

Eric Lindstrom — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 19:37:25 +0000

Vishnu,
Well, if you have the dream and the drive, likely one day you will be running the show! I wish you the best of luck in your aeronautics education.

NASA has one “A” for Aeronautics…but as an oceanographer, I often wished that “A” could stand for “Aqua-nautics!” This month, here at sea, it does feel like the “National Aqua-nautics and Space Administration.” All kidding aside, NASA is deeply involved in just about every aspect of Earth System Science. Certainly in the field of physical oceanography, the space age and NASA investments have revolutionized the science. I’ve been lucky to start my career in old-fashioned sea-going oceanography and heading to the finish line with this fantastic array of ocean sampling wizardry.

Keep after the education, be the best you can be, and maybe we will be following your aeronautics-blog-from-the-leading-edge someday soon.
Eric