Field deployment is about to begin

I'm heading out to Hawaii on Monday to conduct a short field test and then the deployment for the summer's mission.  I  have to calibrate the pigment sensors and do a filtered water blank of the Phyto-flash. This is an important correction for this instrument and it has to be done at the last minute. 

After we launch on Friday, Honey Badger will have a 3 day weekend in the test area off of Kawaihae Harbor (northwest corner of the Big Island).  We will recover it, download the holographic data, and then the LRI team will conduct the final nuts and bolts prep for a multiple month mission.  

Right now, the area looks pretty empty: 

However, the bloom season doesn't really start until July, so we have plenty of time to get up to  30° N and wait.  The feature in the upper left of the image is the transition zone chlorophyll front. It will migrate north as the waters warm and will not be a factor in our sampling.  

More from Hawaii!

-Tracy