NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jennifer Richards
Onboard NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown
September 5 – October 6, 2001
Mission: Eastern Pacific Investigation of Climate Processes
Geographical Area: Eastern Pacific
Date: September 10, 2001
Latitude: 13º 25.1 N
Longitude: 100º 58.4 W
Temperature: 26.1ºC
Seas: Sea wave height: 6-8 feet
Swell wave height: —
Visibility: 0.5 – 1 mile
Cloud cover: 8/8
Water Temp: 29.6ºC
Science Log
A lot of the scientists got very little work done today because the cloud cover was interfering with their instruments. The radar group from Colorado State University was in good spirits because they had a real opportunity to test their equipment during stormy conditions. They are still working out some of the bugs so that when we reach international water, they will be able to work efficiently.
Travel Log
This was the first day in a week that I felt somewhat seasick. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the makers of Meclizine for making a darn good product. We are in the middle of a storm, as you can see from the higher waves and lower visibility reported above. It certainly could be worse- I mean, the waves are only 8 feet, but it’s still an adjustment for my body since the trip has been so nice up until now. I saw a satellite image of this part of the world and you can see a huge storm brewing. I encourage you to search the Internet for current weather images (try a Yahoo search of “NCAR RAP”) and find our latitude and longitude on the map. It looks pretty impressive. It could easily develop into a tropical storm, but hopefully not until it has passed us a little. So what does it feel like to be in a storm? Well, the boat is rocking a LOT, and I’ve been losing my balance all day. I went outside to take some pictures, and was drenched in the few minutes I was there. The deck has about an inch of water sloshing around. And there’s no view of the sunset on the deck after dinner tonight.
Question of the day: What are the two factors that are used when classifying a storm as a tropical depression, tropical storm, or hurricane?
Photo Descriptions: Today’s photos include 5 shots relating to the storm we are in. You’ll see several pictures of the bow of the ship and the low visibility. At all times, there is someone on the bridge on lookout for “objects” in the water (boats, buoys, etc.) During low visibility conditions this job is even more important, since the Captain would have very little time to react if something was spotted. Of course, there is always the radar system, but it doesn’t catch everything. Finally, a picture of the Doppler radar dome, taken prior to the storm. This Doppler radar provides crucial data about the weather conditions around the ship.
Until tomorrow,
Jennifer
