KEY GEAR
MOCNESS: Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sampling System
>> INSTRUMENTS:
The nine nets and sampling devices that make up MOCNESS are towed behind the ship at a low speed—about 1.5 knots.
>> DATA:
Each net is remotely controlled. Once they are in the water, the nets are opened and closed at different depths, and the sensors record information on water depth, salinity, temperature, and chlorophyll fluorescence (an indicator of minute floating plants called phytoplankton).
>> SAMPLING:
PVC buckets on the ends of the nets also collect water samples that can be brought up to the ship.
Photograph by Neil McPhee, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
© 2001 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
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