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Airborne Oceanographer

Last winter, WHOI physical oceanographer Fiamma Straneo rode a helicopter above Sermilik Fjord (visible through the window) in eastern Greenland. From the air, she was able to search for patches of open water where she could drop instruments to measure water temperature and salinity. The trip was the latest chapter in a multi-year study of how warm subtropical water brought north by currents circulates within the fjord. Her work has revealed that the ocean contributes to melting of glacier ice. This was the first-ever winter study of a major glacial fjord in Greenland. (Photo by Kjetil Våge, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution )