The Princess Royal AE6
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | The Princess Royal (74M6) |
| Cruise identifier | AE6 |
| Cruise period | 2018-12-02 — 2018-12-02 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Blyth, United Kingdom |
| Port of return | Blyth, United Kingdom |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | The aim of the project is to deploy autonomous vehicles in the North Sea in order to demonstrate long term monitoring capability of ocean health.
Cruise objectives were to, 1. Deploy 2 Slocum submarine gliders: 305 (Dolomite) and 331 (Coprolite). 2. Recover 2 Slocum submarine gliders: 444 (OMG-Kelvin) and 438 (Frazil). 3. Collect CTD profiles and discrete water samples for calibration of glider sensors following deployment and prior to recovery. Unit 444 for recovery is a specialist glider and is longer and heavier than the standard Slocum glider; ~80kg in air and 2.1m long. This additional bulk is to accommodate an integrated ADCP and externally mounted microstructure package. |
| Chief scientist | Matthew R Palmer (National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool) |
| Project | An Alternative Framework to Assess Marine Ecosystem Functioning in Shelf Seas (AlterEco) |
| Cruise report |  (0.21 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | North Sea |
| Measurements | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Subsurface temperature and salinity measurements | Quantity: number of profiles = 1 Description: CTD - water samples taken for both Salinity and Oxygen measurements |
| Chemical oceanography | |
| Oxygen | Quantity: number of profiles = 1 Description: CTD - water samples taken for both Salinity and Oxygen measurements |
| Moorings, landers, buoys | |
| Physical oceanography | |
| Other physical oceanographic measurements | 55° 11' 27" N 1° 22' 11" E — 438 (Frazil) slocum glider successfully recovered |
| Other physical oceanographic measurements | 55° 11' 15" N 1° 21' 25" E — Deployed glider 331 (Coprolite) |
| Other physical oceanographic measurements | 55° 11' 19" N 1° 21' 21" E — Deployed glider 305 (Dolomite) |
| Other physical oceanographic measurements | 55° 11' 26" N 1° 21' 32" E — 444 (Kelvin) slocum glider successfully recovered |
