Scientists from the RAW project spent the first half of September actively participating in year-round measurements of physicochemical conditions in the bays of Hornsund Fjord on Svalbard.
The first set of measurements was set up at the bottom of the bay near the Polish Polar Station Hornsund at a depth of 10 metres. The bay, due to its proximity to the Hans Glacier, is an example of fjord processes in the foreland of glaciers reaching the sea. The installed apparatus will be used to measure temperature, salinity, suspended solids concentration and light availability for photosynthesis. The underwater measuring buoy was set up with a team of scientists from the Institute of Geophysics PAS and the Institute of Oceanology PAS analysing wave and shore processes in the bay.
They are using an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) for the measurements. The data from this apparatus will also be useful for our project. Despite of waves and sea currents, from the intensity of the acoustic signal it is possible to obtain information about the distribution of the concentration of matter suspended in the entire column of water above the apparatus.
Photo: Jerzy Giżejewski