Enroute to Durban, South Africa from Puerto Rico, the ship will be sampling Radiatively Important Trace Species (RITS)--sampling the air for compounds such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ammonia and aerosols. Scientists will sample the North Atlantic northeasterly and South Atlantic southeasterly trade winds and the polar westerlies to gain a broad view of the photochemical environment. This sampling is important to understand the complex components of our atmosphere, and to provide a baseline to see how the composition of our atmosphere changes over time. Along with this study the ship will take water samples and examine current flow for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). From this data the interrelationships among the ocean currents, atmosphere, and world climate can be studied.
After departing Durban, South Africa, the ship will head to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Along its way, more WOCE data will be collected. From Sri Lanka to Muscat, Oman scientists will collect and study the plankton and fish in the region along the coast of Somalia to Oman. This project will utilize satellites to provide near real-time data that the scientists will need in the area of operations. This region is important because of the increase in the abundance, distribution, and diversity of animals produced by the strong coastal and open ocean upwelling generated by the southwest monsoons. A Multiple Opening and Closing Nekton Environmental Sampling System (MOCNESS) will be towed astern of the MALCOLM BALDRIGE during the cruise to collect the plankton samples required.
More WOCE data will be collected on the leg from Muscat, Oman to the Seychelles, and from the Seychelles back to Oman. After departing Muscat, Oman the ship will again tow the MOCNESS to collect plankton samples and sample fish along the Somalia coast on its way to Diego Garcia.
Ocean and Atmosphere Carbon Exchange Studies (OACES) will be conducted from Diego Garcia to Fremantle, Australia and back to Colombo, Sri Lanka. OACES examines the amount of carbon dioxide in the ocean and compares it to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at a point to determine if the ocean in a given area is absorbing or emitting carbon dioxide and at what rates these processes are occurring. This information will help answer questions about the greenhouse effect and the possibility of global warming.
From Sri Lanka, the ship will transit to the Solomon Islands with a stop in Port Darwin, Australia. The Solomon Islands are being used as a supply point for the last project in the world cruise. Deep sea oceanographic buoys will be loaded on board for deployment in the western and central Pacific Ocean. These buoys will be placed in the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere - Tropical Ocean Atmosphere (TOGA-TAO) array. This is an array of more than 60 buoys that extend from Indonesia to just west of the Galapagos Islands. The TAO array measures surface winds and temperatures, subsurface thermal structure, and currents. This information is recorded and reported by the moorings and used as a key diagnostic tool for understanding and predicting the El Nino phenomena. The last supply point for this project will be American Samoa and after a month of buoy operations, MALCOLM BALDRIGE will head for Panama to cross into the Caribbean Sea. The ship is scheduled to arrive back in Miami, Florida, having circumnavigated the globe, in mid-January 1996.