2024 Nathaniel B. Palmer Transit

Float deployments on the NBP24-04 transit from Lyttleton, New Zealand to Punta Arenas, Chile, with a stop at the Palmer Station on the west Antarctic peninsula.

This cruise on the US Antarctic Program‘s icebreaker RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer will deploy a total of 10 floats:
    • 5 Apex floats for the GO-BGC program
    • 1 Apex float for the SOCCOM program
    • 4 Navis floats for the GO-BGC program
SOCCOM and GO-BGC floats are deployed from ships from many different countries. While most of the cruises have large science parties aboard and are doing regional oceanographic studies, the NBP24-04 cruise is a transit from Lyttleton, New Zealand to Punta Arenas, Chile, with a stop at the Palmer Station on the west Antarctic peninsula. The programs were granted enough shiptime and lots of support from the US Antarctic Program to deploy 10 floats and take measurements that support the floats just before they are deployed. Each of the 10 stations will take about 3 hours. In that sense, SOCCOM and GO-BGC are the science users on the transit cruise. The two scientists aboard will run CTD casts to collect data and water samples, as well as analyze dissolved oxygen and salinity onboard. They will also collect pH, nutrient, HPLC, and POC samples to be analyzed in labs at NASA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
This cruise is actually the reverse track of a cruise in 2022 where SOCCOM also deployed 10 floats, which have since dispersed. The floats have been adopted by schools around the world, who will track their assigned float for years to come.

Chief Scientist: Angela Klemmedson

Co-chief Scientist: Eric Alward

Ship: RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer
Cruise dates: April 11-May 6, 2024
Start port: Lyttleton, New Zealand
End port: Punta Arenas, Chile
I08S Previous Tracks

Map showing the planned float locations on NBP24-04.

NBP24-04 Southern Ocean Expedition Logs

4/15/2024

4/15/2024

Decorating floats and cups onboard the RVIB PalmerApril 15, 2024 Although there is a ton of science happening aboard research vessels, there is also a surprising amount of arts and crafts during the down times. So far on this cruise, many science technicians and crew...

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4/13/2024

4/13/2024

Crossing the International Date Line and the first SOCCOM stationApril 13, 2024 (twice!) We crossed the International Date Line today! That means we got an extra day and experienced April 13th twice. On our first go of April 13th, we finished preparing the labs. By...

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4/11/2024

4/11/2024

Introducing Eric and Angela, who will be sharing their expedition experienceApril 11, 2024 NBP24-04 departed from Lyttelton, New Zealand as scheduled on April 11, 2024 at 5:30am. We are Angela and Eric and we are sailing as technicians on the SOCCOM cruise aboard RVIB...

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