RV Investigator IN2016_V05 (GPc08)
Cruise summary report
| Cruise Info. | |
| Ship name (ship code) | RV Investigator (096U) |
| Cruise identifier | IN2016_V05 (GPc08) |
| Cruise period | 2016-09-28 — 2016-10-24 |
| Status | Completed |
| Port of departure | Brisbane, Australia |
| Port of return | Brisbane, Australia |
| Purpose | Research |
| Objectives | The main objective of the voyage is to acquire observations that will address four key science questions about the role of atmospheric composition in the GBR region:
1. Do marine aerosols along the north Queensland coast have a significant signature that is coral-derived? 2. How does this aerosol change its physicochemical properties, especially its capacity to act as CCN, as winds carry it from the reefs to the north Queensland rainforests? 3. What is the significance of this ecosystem as a source of aerosol particles and will potential degradation of the reef cause significant variations in particle number being generated over the reef. 4. Should changes in this aerosol, associated with reef degradation, be taken into account when modelling the radiative climate and rainfall? Supplementary voyage objectives: 1. To collect high resolution biogeochemical observations for validation of the 4km and 1km near real time eReefs models (https://research.csiro.au/ereefs/) 2. To get modellers in the field to better understand methods and issues associated with modern methods of data collection. 3. To collect in situ optical data for the NASA CORAL project which is operating a very high resolution airborne hyperspectral sensor along selected transects in the GBR. Opportunistic voyage objectives Due to the size of the ship we were unable to approach closer to the reefs. To access the particle composition above and in the vicinity of the reefs we deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This was the first time that UAVs were launched from the RV Investigator. To use this opportunity an opportunistic voyage objective was added: 1. Deploy UAVs to measure the emissions from the ship diesel engines and study their dispersion in the marine atmosphere. |
| Chief scientist | Zoran D Ristovski (Queensland University of Technology, School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences) |
| Project | GEOTRACES -Trace elements and their isotopes in the water column |
| Cruise report |  (9.01 MB) |
| Ocean/sea areas | |
| General | Coral Sea |
| Specific | Great Barrier Reef |
| Data held at BODC | |
| Discrete samples | |
| 9 Atmospheric air sampling pump |
