Aurora Australis Marine Science Cruise AU1603 - Oceanographic Field Measurements and Analysis

Oceanographic measurements were collected aboard Aurora Australis cruise au1603, voyage 3 2015/2016, from 11th January to ~24th February 2016. The cruise commenced with the K-AXIS project, the major marine science component of the cruise. This was the Australian component (P.I.’s Andrew Constable, Steve Rintoul and others) of a combined biological and oceanographic study in the vicinity of the Kerguelen Axis. After conclusion of marine science work the ship went to Mawson for a resupply. During a storm on 24th February the ship broke free of its mooring lines and ran aground on the rocks at West Arm in Horseshoe Harbour, thus ending the cruise. Expeditioners were eventually taken to Casey on the Shirase, then flown home. Meanwhile the Aurora Australis was refloated and sailed to Fremantle, then on to Singapore for repairs.
This report discusses the oceanographic data from CTD operations on the cruise. A total of 47 CTD vertical profile stations were taken on the cruise (Table 1). Over 850 Niskin bottle water samples were collected for the measurement of salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients (phosphate, nitrate+nitrite and silicate), dissolved inorganic carbon (i.e. TCO2), alkalinity, POC and PN, and biological parameters, using a 24 bottle rosette sampler. A UVP particle counter/camera system was attached to the CTD package (P.I. Emmanuel Laurenceau). A separate trace metal rosette system was deployed from the trawl deck (P.I. Andrew Bowie). Upper water column current profile data were collected by a ship mounted ADCP, and meteorological and water property data were collected by the array of ship's underway sensors. Eight drifting floats were deployed over the course of the cruise.
Processing/calibration and data quality for the main CTD data are described in this report. Underway sea surface temperature and salinity data are compared to near surface CTD data. CTD station positions are shown in Figure 1, while CTD station information is summarised in Table 1. Float deployments (5 x Argo/Apex, 2 x SOCCOM and 1 x Provor) are summarised in Table 10. Further cruise itinerary/summary details can be found in the voyage leader report (Australian Antarctic Division unpublished report: Voyage 3 2015-2016, RSV Aurora Australis, Voyage Leader’s report - see the metadata record "Aurora Australis Voyage 3 2015/16 Track and Underway Data" for access to the Voyage Report).

Tags: ACE/CRC, AMD, AMD/AU, CEOS, CTD > Conductivity, Temperature, Depth, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > NUTRIENTS, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > OXYGEN, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN OPTICS > ATTENUATION/TRANSMISSION, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN OPTICS > FLUORESCENCE, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN OPTICS > PHOTOSYNTHETICALLY ACTIVE RADIATION, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN PRESSURE > WATER PRESSURE, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > WATER TEMPERATURE, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SALINITY/DENSITY > SALINITY, GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR, K-AXIS, OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > Southern Kerguelen Plateau, OCEANOGRAPHY, R/V AA > R/V Aurora Australis
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network