2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

Figure 23
The NOAA Research Vessel Ronald
H. Brown docked at Port Arturo Prat,
Punta Arenas, Chile, February 2008.
Figure 22
SOGASEX science team
at sea.
measurements in this remote location and
under heavy sea states. While in Chile, the
science team provided a tour of the research
vessel and science equipment for local
students, and conducted interviews with local
and national print, radio, and television media
outlets. In addition, the on-board scientists
wrote a vivid blog of the progression of
the science mission and life at sea, which is
featured on the mission web site.
“NASA’s ongoing effort to understand the
global carbon cycle will benefit from the data
this cruise produced about the mechanisms
that govern gas transfer in this remote part
of the world’s ocean,” according to Dr. Paula
Bontempi, manager of the ocean biology
and biogeochemistry research program at
NASA Headquarters. “NASA’s global satellite
observations of ocean color that reveal so
much about the health of our oceans also
will be improved in this region as we validate
what our space-based sensors see with direct
measurements taken at sea.”
[NASA’s Aqua satellite makes ocean color
observations over the Southern Ocean every
few days with the Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer. The satellite,
launched in 2002, uses six instruments
to make global measurements of the
atmosphere, land, oceans, and snow and ice
cover.]
The logistical issues of departing from
and returning to two different countries
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