By
Alex Smith |
Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot is currently collecting data from the Artic Ocean to evaluate the role of global warming and glacial meltwater in the rising level of oxygen in the world’s oceans, using the FerryBox multi-parameter water measurement system from 4H-Jena Engineering.
Engineers from the sea water sensor and measuring system manufacturer installed the system during Spring 2022, while the ship was docked in Cherbourg, France. FerryBox measures parameters such as temperature, salinity and sound velocity, in addition to measurements that determine the concentration of dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide. These measurements provide insights into bio productivity and the concentration distribution of carbon dioxide, which is important to the study of global warming, ocean acidification and the carbon dioxide absorption function of the oceans.
Guests onboard Le Commandant Charcot will be able to participate in projects using FerryBox data, along with studies of ocean plastic pollution and analysis of humpback whale behaviour.
“There is relatively little ocean data from the Arctic and Antarctic available, but with FerryBox alongside the laboratory facilities and other scientific sensors and equipment aboard Le Commandant Charcot, we plan to change that,” said Vladislav Sidorenkov-Duprez, science program coordinator for Ponant. “Le Commandant Charcot’s itinerary takes FerryBox further North than the current highest FerryBox installation in Svalbard, allowing us to extend the geographical scope for autonomous water measurements even further using a solution that we can rely on to deliver accurate readings in any conditions.”