| Abstract | The Galathea 3 Expedition Included 48 Different Research Projects on Both Land and Water.
•GIS made it possible to display the route and the vessel on a globe in 3D.
•GIS and the Ship Information System monitored data in near real time.
•Expedition information was communicated to the public via an ArcIMS software-based Web site.
Since the Vikings, Denmark has been known as a seafaring nation. In 1845, 231 sailors and scientists set off on a scientific journey, named Galathea 1, that would take them south around Africa to India, visiting Tranquebar and the Nicobar Islands. It was a tough journey, and 20 men lost their lives. The results of the expedition, which had been ordered by Danish King Christian VIII, were to be delivered in a beautifully decorated book, but unfortunately the king died shortly after the expedition returned, and the scientists argued so much that the book never became a reality.
The public could follow the Galathea 3 scientific expedition in real time.
Where the first Galathea had support from the king, the second got it from the public. In 1952, when the deep-sea expedition Galathea 2 returned to Denmark after two years, 20,000 Danes greeted it at Langelinie quay in Copenhagen. The main reason for the support was that the forces behind the expedition had understood the power of communication. Reporters and journalists were onboard the ship, and every week movies about it were shown in the local theaters.
In 2006, the Galathea 3 expedition began a nine-month-long research journey at sea. This time, the expedition had the support of both the public and royal family. Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark and protector for Galathea 3, while introducing the expedition at the Geological Institute in Copenhagen before the ship sailed off, said, "As individuals, we all have a curiosity to explain and demystify. We want to know, explain, and tell all what we experience as humans."
This time, GIS technology also played a part in the expedition's objective to strengthen Danish research and make young people more interested in the natural sciences.
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