Monitoring sea temperature and salinity with HOMER
The Atlantic Ocean is an important parameter influencing the climate in Europe, in particular northern Europe. With the threat of climate change looming over the continent, it is increasingly important to gather as much data as possible from the ocean. Incorporating data such as temperature and salinity profiles into climate models will help improve their accuracy. The ocean is a harsh environment and therefore autonomous instrumentation must be built to withstand salt, currents, extreme temperatures and encounters with ships, especially deep-sea trawlers. The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) took up this challenge in the context of the ASOF-W project in conjunction with several other European marine research institutes. The SAMS scientists constructed a bottom-mounted winch that releases a buoyant capsule at regular intervals (e.g. daily). Once temperature, salinity and other measurements are gathered up to a specified height, the capsule is retracted for safety reasons. The new equipment, named HOMER, was deployed and tested in the waters off southeast Greenland during ASOF-W. Further to the experience gained during the measurement campaign, SAMS is making final adjustments to the HOMER prototype.
