Photo (left): From left to right: Klaus Ertel, Volker Matthias, and Friedhelm Jansen of Max Planck Institute (MPI), and Volker Wulfmeyer of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). All are enjoying a ray of sunlight and nice views of islands and lagoons in the Jomard Passage. Other snapshots from the Ron Brown

Commentary:

Today the Ron Brown (RHB) moved from the Coral Sea to the Solomon Sea via the Jomard Passage. With sheltered waters and a trailing wind, the ride became noticeably smoother. Tropical lagoons, long beaches, and palm trees tempted a few scientists to consider jumping ship! Yesterday better high-frequency radio communications were established with Mirai and Nauru. The RHB heard Mirai, Nauru heard RHB and passed messages to Mirai. We saw several ships today, including a huge tanker, a sport fishing vessel, and a wreck on a reef.

Visual Observations:

Broken overcast with patches of blue sky. Winds are still strong enough to generate whitecaps.

Instrument Status:

The C-band radar locked up in vertical direction and was turned off. We await diagnostics and advice from the United States before attempting to reconfigure and restart. We discovered that our helium supply (for radiosonde balloons) is lower than thought because only 18 cylinders were filled in Darwin, not 24 as expected. This may cause rationing of radiosonde flights.

Previous Days' Updates:

June 19, 1999
June 18, 1999
June 17, 1999
June 16, 1999
June 15, 1999
June 14, 1999
June 10, 1999

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