Q3 Gear casts

Abstract

The RV Kronprins Haakon cruise Nansen Legacy seasonal Q3 (Q3= 3rd quarter of the year), initiated the seasonal investigation of the northern Barents Sea and adjacent Arctic Basin. This activity is a key milestone for 2019 and 2020. The cruise addressed objectives of the research foci in RF1 on Physical drivers, RF2 on Human drivers and RF3 on the living Barents Sea, and collected necessary data along the Nansen Legacy transect in open waters and within the ice. Experiments were an important component of the research to quantify processes, rates and interactions that will also feed modeling work and projections in RF4. The ongoing establishment of routines for sampling, data management and data storing continued as part of the practical work onboard. The observational capacity was increased also outside the cruise periods, through deployment of 2 gliders for RF1, and 3 moorings in collaboration with RF1/2/3.