Upper Ocean Survey with the Moving Vessel Profiler

By Anne-Sophie Fortin

This figure has four panels. (1)The Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP) is attached to a rope and is pulled back to the ocean surface after its free-fall. (2) A metallic structure holds the rope of the MVP. (3) Hannah is looking at a monitor that shows the depth and other parameters of the MVP. (4) The rope is automatically pulled up after its free-fall on this spool.
The Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP) is attached to a rope and is pulled back to the ocean surface after its free-fall. A metallic structure holds the rope of the MVP and is automatically pulled up after its free-fall on a spool. Thus, we can sit back and look at the MVP outputs on a monitor (here Hannah is on duty).

August 14, 2022

As we transit toward the next station with a speed of about 8 knots, we are taking continuous profiles of the upper 100 meters of the ocean. To do so we use a Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP), an instrument measuring temperature and conductivity (from which salinity can be derived) is free-falling in the ocean and then automatically pulled back to the surface.

The goal here is to survey the Labrador Current fronts, which are sharp changes in the temperature and salinity vertical structure over short distances, and the mixing of Labrador Current water with other water masses over the Labrador continental shelf. The Labrador Current is a water mass particularly cold, fresh, and high in dissolved oxygen.

Koordinaten: 51.740560, -50.027520     

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