September 26, 2011
Today, we were issued mustang survival suits and hard hats, so now we can go wherever we want on the deck and watch the various operations. We had a meteorology lecture from a scientist on board, and then we built pyranometers, instruments that measure the amount of solar radiation falling on a horizontal surface. We were given photodiodes, devices that convert sunlight into electricity. We built two pyranometers and we are trying to see how the features on ours affect the accuracy of our measurements. We will start collecting data in a few days and compare our results to the ship’s pyranometer.
I was surprised that us students are allowed to go to the science meetings that happen every evening. They state what they have achieved in the past 24 hours, raise any issues they may have had with the schedule and equipment, and discuss the plan for the next 24 hours. I like how the scientists let us see what they do as much as possible.—Karen Butt ’12