Nancy Lewis
Onboard NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana
September 15 – 27, 2003
Mission: Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO)/TRITON
Geographical Area: Western Pacific
Date: September 26, 2003
Transit to Honolulu, HI
0700: Wog Breakfast
Sunday night arrival at Hotel pier, Pearl Harbor
Monday morning: clear Customs/Immigrations/Agriculture
Refuel, then depart approximately 1500 for Snug Harbor
Weather Observation Log: 0100
Latitude: 14 degrees, 54.7’ N
Longitude: 149 degrees, 22.4’ W
Visibility: 12 nautical miles
Wind direction: 090 degrees
Wind speed: 10 knots
Sea wave height: 3-4 feet
Swell wave height: 5-7 feet
Sea water temperature: 28.0 degrees C
Sea level pressure: 1012.7 mb
Dry bulb pressure: 27.8 degrees C
Wet bulb pressure: 24.9 degrees C
Cloud cover: 6/8 Cumulus, strato-cumulus
Science and Technology Log
Last night I was able to interview the Chief Scientist on board the KA, Patrick Ahearn. Patrick’s responsibilities include assembling and disassembling the buoy components, working with the Captain to map out the buoy operations each day, and also overseeing all the other science projects that are being done on board the KA.
I have received several e-mail questions from students about whether or not they ever put out new buoys. Research and developments is always going on with the TAO/Triton program. Patrick talked about several experimental instruments that were used for the first time on this cruise. A new buoy was deployed (parallel with the one at 5 degrees North) that had on it a new type of wind instrument called an Acoustic Wind Anemometer. This will be a test buoy to see how it performs compared with the older propeller type model, which is greatly subject to damage.
Another experimental device just deployed for the first time on this cruise is called a pCO2 unit. This unit has been laying out here in the lab, opened up, and we are shooting some video footage of it, so that you can see what it looks like. It is pretty amazing in that inside the waterproof canister are various transistors, wiring, and an iridium modem phone which they use to call up the buoy. Another canister contains lots and lots of batteries to power the instrument.
The pCO2 unit is being used to measure the amount of carbon dissolved in the water. It will enable data to be gathered on the amount of carbon dioxide that is either being dissolved into the ocean, or being diffused out of the ocean water and into the atmosphere. These studies are very important to the study of the greenhouse effect and relate to studies that are considering whether or not global warming is indeed occurring. It was truly fascinating to see the inside of this sophisticated instrument, another example of the type of cutting edge science being conducted on board this vessel.
Patrick is the one who always goes out to the buoys, climbs on them to remove the instruments before the buoy is retrieved, or brought on board the ship. On the night that I rode out to the buoy where a repair would be conducted, I was amazed to see Patrick bring onto the buoy a laptop computer. You can imagine how it must have looked, in the pitch dark, with him gazing at the lighted computer screen on the buoy.
Personal Log
All of the Wogs had to serve breakfast to the Shellbacks this morning. I have been sworn to secrecy about the exact nature of the rest of the morning’s proceedings. The initiation of Wogs is a tradition that goes way back to the days of sailing ships, but nothing that happened to us was injurious to life or limb. Suffice it to say, that I survived the treatment and was rewarded with a card that proves I have been across the Equator, and am now an honorable Shellback.
The scientists are beginning to pack up all their instruments and gear. Tom Nolan is still running calibrations with his SINBAD instrument whenever the satellite is overhead. The crew has been busy cleaning the decks, painting and generally sprucing up the ship for our grand entrance into Pearl Harbor on Sunday. The Customs officials have to clear us, since the ship has been to a foreign country. Then, the ship will refuel and make its way over to Snug Harbor. Many of us will be leaving the vessel, but for much of the crew, a new cruise will begin for them after not too many days.
In the meantime, I am keeping track of our projected time to approach Ka Lae, or South Point, the southernmost tip of land in the U.S. My school, Naalehu Elementary and Intermediate School, is located very close to South Point, and indeed, the school overlooks the ocean near there. It may be in the middle of the night, but I am planning on being, no matter what time it is.
Question of the Day: Where is the ozone layer located in the atmosphere?
Aloha from the KA,
Nancy Lewis
