Solar Boat Outfitted For Climate Research
太陽能動力船 研究氣候
By Henry Fountain

Last year, after it became the first solar-powered boat to circumnavigate the globe, the Turanor Planetsolar could have taken its 510 square meters of photovoltaic cells and even metric tons of lithium-ion batteries and sailed off into the sunset.
去年成為第一艘環繞全球一周的全太陽能動力船之後，「地球太陽號」原本可以帶著它510平方公尺的光電電池與重7公噸的鋰電池航向夕陽。

Instead, the boat will cruise the Gulf Stream studying the role of atmospheric aerosols and phytoplankton in regulating climate, under the direction of Martin Beniston, a climatologist at the University of Geneva.
相反的，在日內瓦大學氣候學家貝尼斯頓主持下，它將在墨西哥灣流中巡航，研究空氣浮質與浮游植物在調節氣候的過程中所扮演的角色。

The research cruise began in Miami and will stop in Newfoundland and Iceland as it tracks the northeasterly current. The voyage is expected to end in Bergen, Norway, in August.
這一次的研究巡航在佛羅里達州邁阿密展開，在追蹤東北向海流的過程中，「地球太陽號」沿途將在加拿大東海岸的紐芬蘭及冰島停留。全部航程預定今年八月結束，終點是挪威第二大城卑爾根。

In mid-June, the boat stopped in New York City for a few days. The 30-meter, $17 million catamaran was dreamed up up by a Swiss eco-adventurer and bankrolled by a German businessman. Completely powered by the sun – the high-efficiency solar cells charge the batteries that power electric motors connected to the craft’s twin propellers – it produces no emissions of carbon dioxide or other gases that could contaminate air samples. And the boat has no problem going slowly, if necessary, as it samples the water – average speed is a sluggish five knots.
上個月中旬，「地球太陽號」在紐約市停了幾天。這艘雙體船長30公尺，耗資1700萬美元建造，構想來自一名瑞士生態探險家，資金則來自一名德國商人。它的動力完全來自太陽能（船的電動引擎連接雙螺旋槳。高效能太陽能電池為驅動引擎的電池充電），不會排放二氧化碳或其他可能汙染空氣樣本的氣體。還有，如果必要，「地球太陽號」可以在採集海水樣本的過程中，緩慢航行，平均時速是非常緩慢的5海里。

Research equipment added includes a “ferrybox,” that constantly records the temperature, salinity and other characteristics of the water. It also has a “biobox,” developed by the university’s applied physics department, which uses a laser to analyze the number and type of aerosols in air samples.
添加的研究器材包括一個可以持續記錄海水溫度、鹹度及其他特性的「渡船盒」。另有一個由日內瓦大學應用物理學系研發的「生態盒」，以雷射分析空氣樣本中的浮質數量及類型。

The problem of ocean-generated aerosols – solid or liquid particles in the atmosphere that can have an impact through cloud formation, reflection of sunlight and other processes – is a relatively new one in climate science, Dr. Beniston said. “We suppose that the ocean must be a fairly large contributor” of aerosols through the action of waves and wind, he said. “Their exact role is still open to question,” he said.
海洋產生的各種浮質（又稱氣溶膠），也就是空氣中的固態或液態微粒，會透過雲的形成、陽光反射及其他過程產生影響。貝尼斯頓表示，這個問題是氣候科學中比較新的領域。他說：「我們認為，海洋一定透過波浪與風的活動而提供了許多浮質。它們扮演的確切角色仍待研究。」

Dr. Beniston’s plan is to examine smaller-scale structures in the Gulf Stream, including eddies, swirling offshoots of the current. Eddies tend to have more upwelling of colder, deeper water than the Gulf Stream itself, so one goal is to see whether different water conditions produce different aerosols. Bastiaan Ibelings, a microbial ecologist at the University of Geneva, wants to see whether the conditions in eddies result in more or less biological diversity than elsewhere.
貝尼斯頓博士的計畫是深入探討墨西灣流的較小型結構，包括不斷旋轉的水渦流。這些渦流較冷、較深的上湧水往往比墨西哥灣流本身要來得多。有鑑於此，研究的目標之一是，釐清水的各種不同狀態是否會產生不同的浮質。日內瓦大學的微生物生態學家艾貝林斯想確定的是，渦流的不同狀態是否足以造就相較於其他地區而言，更多或更少的生物多樣性。

The boat, which ended its 19-month, 59,500-kilometer circumnavigation in May 2012, is an ambassador for solar energy,” said Gérard d’Aboville, its current captain.
「地球太陽號」去年五月完成歷時19個月，總計5萬9,500公里的環球航程。現任船長達波維爾說：「它是太陽能的大使。」

Planetsolar poses some unique challenges. In addition to wind, waves and current, Mr. d’Aboville must constantly consider the amount of sunlight hitting the photovoltaic cells, keeping the batteries as charged as possible. (They can power the boat for about 72 hours when fully charged.)
「地球太陽號」也構成一些獨特的挑戰。除了風、波浪與水流之外，達波維爾還必須不斷注意陽光照射光電電池的強度，以及盡量讓電池保持最大程度的充電狀態（如果完全充電，它們可以讓「地球太陽號」持續航行大約72個小時）。

He said: “I have this new parameter of the sun, and it makes life interesting.”
他說：「我擁有如此的太陽新參數。它使生命變得有趣。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/science/solar-boat-harnessed-for-research.html

Video：Sailing by the Sun: The world’s largest solar-powered ship stopped in New York City on June 20, 2013.
http://nyti.ms/18bFOB4

2013-07-09聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報十版右