NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jackie Hams
Aboard R/V Roger Revelle November 6 — December 10, 2011
My name is Jacquelyn (Jackie) Hams and I am an Associate Professor and Chair of the Earth Science Department at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC). LAVC is a two-year college within the Los Angeles Community College District which consists of 9 major campuses, several satellite locations, and over 120,000 students.
Teacher at Sea Jackie Hams with the St. Croix River in the background.
This photograph was taken in October 2011 during the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN. The St. Croix River which flows between Minnesota and Wisconsin is in the background. In just a few weeks my background photos will look significantly different as I embark on my NOAA Teacher at Sea experience in the Indian Ocean.
I am participating in an investigation of ocean-atmosphere interactions in the equatorial Indian Ocean involving meteorologists, oceanographers, and climate scientists from 13 countries called Project DYNAMO (Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation). The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a 30-90 day tropical weather cycle that starts over the equatorial Indian Ocean and moves eastward into the western Pacific Ocean where it impacts other global weather and climate patterns such as El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Asian monsoons, tropical storm development in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and Pineapple Express events. Specialized instruments will be deployed and operated on ships, aircraft, and islands in the Southern Indian Ocean, Maldives Islands, Diego Garcia British Indian Ocean Territory, and the Eastern Indian Ocean to collect data and study the MJO at its source.
I am a Teacher at Sea on Leg 3 of a research cruise aboard the R/V Roger Revelle in the eastern Indian Ocean which is scheduled from November 6 – December 10 beginning and ending in Phuket, Thailand. My students are not just following my adventures via this blog – I will be teaching the last 5 weeks of my Oceanography and Physical Geology classes from the ship. This Teacher at Sea experience is also about learning in real-time and will be a true test of Distance Education!
R/V Roger Revelle. Image credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Here are some great general Project DYNAMO links to bookmark and follow Leg 3 of the cruise.
DYNAMO Home Page. Select the DYNAMO Field Catalog menu on the left, then the Reports menu at the top of the page to view the latest report from the R/V RogerRevelle. You can also view the latest satellite imagery in the Indian Ocean. http://www.eol.ucar.edu/projects/dynamo/
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Stephen Bunker
Aboard R/V Walton Smith October 20 — 24, 2011
The time is quickly approaching for me to start on my NOAA Teacher at Sea voyage. Before I head off I should tell a little about myself. I’m a 3rd grade teacher at Northridge Elementary in Orem, Utah. In my previous 18 years of teaching, I’ve taught students ranging from kindergarten through 6th grade. Of all the subjects I teach, I think science is the most fun.
I’ve participated in many professional development opportunities, but I think this will be the most unique. Living at sea on a NOAA ship doing research with scientists and then sharing what I experience and learn with others will be loads of fun.
In addition, I’ll be at sea when my students are in school. So, “Hello class!” I’m hoping they follow this blog. If you have a question for me, please post a comment below. I’ll make sure to respond either from ship or when I return.
This will be my home for 5 days.
I’ll be aboard the R/V Walton Smith for a week. The RV Walton Smith is based in Miami, Florida and we will be doing a Hydrographic Survey. That’s science speak for measuring and collecting data about ocean features such as temperature, water clarity, microscopic plant and animal life and currents and tides. The scientists are interested in learning how the Deepwater Horizon oil platform accident is affecting the plant and animal life in the Florida Keys.
It takes a lot of planning to get ready for this type of voyage. Our lead scientist has made a map of the area where we will be.
A map showing where we will do our research.
Check back, because the next time you’ll hear from me will be from the Florida Keys.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kaci Heins
Aboard NOAA Ship Rainier September 17 — October 7, 2011
Farewell Alaska
Mission: Hydrographic Survey Geographical Area: Alaskan Coastline, the Inside Passage Date: Friday, October 7, 2011
Weather Data from the Bridge
Clouds: Partly Cloudy 1/8
Visibility: 10+ Nautical Miles
Wind: 4 knots
Temperature
Dry Bulb: 8.5 degrees Celsius
Barometer: 1018.5 millibars
Latitude: 54.47 degrees North
Longitude: -132.32 degrees West
Science and Technology Log
One of the Main Engines
Every day we tend to take for granted the simple things in life such as having electricity to power to charge our cell phones, to be able to turn on the water whenever we need a drink, or to make sure the toilets flush in the restroom. When we are on a ship at sea for a long period of time, it is important that all of these systems that impact of our daily life are functioning properly. We cannot take an extension cord and run it from the port to wherever we are heading so that we have electricity. The Rainier, like any other ship, is like a floating city and is self-sufficient in its abilities to generate its own electricity, create and store its own fresh water, process its own sewage, and still get to where it needs to go.
There are two 12 cylinder two-cycle diesel engines that power the ship. Each engine is geared independently to individual propeller shafts. This means that the ship can actually be steered by adjusting the pitch or “bite” of the propellers. The average speed for the Rainier from these engines is about 12 knots. Power is generated on the ship through two 415 kilowatt, 450 volt, 3 phase, 60 cycle generators, which are driven by the diesel engines. The generated voltage is stepped down through transformers to supply the 120-volt power for lighting, appliances, and electronic equipment on the ship. The heat rejection from the diesel engines is also used for the evaporators which help produce the ships water.
Engine for the Generator
There are two water storage tanks that can hold up to 8390 gallons of water. This amount of water will only last us a couple of days because the ship uses about 2000 gallons of water a day. There are two flash type distilling plants that generate our potable water, which converts sea water into our fresh water for the ship. They are able to convert around 6000 gallons of fresh water a day for all of the needs of the ship. Hot water and steam for our needs are provided by two pressurized hot water boilers that use diesel fuel to heat the water up to around 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hot Water Boiler
All of these various systems and machinery are the lifeblood of the ship. They help provide the basic needs for the crew in order to survive for long periods of time at sea and for the ship to fulfill its mission. Without the engineers monitoring and maintaining the ships equipment we could not accomplish the tasks required of the ship . There is extensive amounts of hands-on experience and training that comes with this territory of keeping the ship alive. This training can come from collegiate academies, prior military service, trade schools, or wanting to come into an entry-level position to experience life at sea.
*Special thanks to Cliff Elsner for giving me an extensive tour of the engine room and helping me share this information about the heart of the ship.
Personal Log
Rainbow During a Survey
It’s funny how a person adapts to their environment over time. I was so excited to be going to Alaska to take part in this experience, but I had no idea what it would be like or how much I would learn. Noises that were beyond annoying at the beginning of the trip become a constant humming that the Rainier shares each day. The vibrations and gentle sway that would keep you up until the wee hours of the morning, start to rock you to sleep each night in preparation for the days work ahead. However, there are times when she may want to rock, but the Pacific Ocean wants you to roll. Then there isn’t much sleep to be had. The weather would like to break the Rainier, but she is a floating fortress of steel that continues on knowing there is a job to be done. It is a constant rhythm with this ship. The waves keep time and rarely does anyone miss a beat. The pulse and the life of the ship stay in complete sync. With everyone doing their part we come to the finale as we finish the last day of work and pull into port. There is a welcomed intermission between journeys as we head into Ketchikan, Alaska.
I did see a moose in Alaska!
I am so grateful for this experience to see Alaska, to see the wildlife, and to see what hydrographic surveying is all about. However, I never imagined I would meet so many wonderful people on this ship. Each person I came in contact with had wonderful characteristics, personalities, and skills to share. I admire what each person has to contribute from every department on the ship. If they were not here then the ship would not function to its fullest potential and complete its mission. I am thankful for each handshake, each ear to ear smile, the jokes played on each other and myself, the hearty laughter at dinner that keeps us all sane, the hugs of support, the high fives of accomplishment, but most importantly the many lessons that you have taught me that I will keep with me for a lifetime. I love this ship, I love this crew, and I loved this experience. Thank you to everyone that made this possible.
NOAA Teacher at Sea
Kaci Heins
Aboard NOAA Ship Rainier September 17 — October 7, 2011
Mrs. Heins Taking a CTD Cast
Mission: Hydrographic Survey Geographical Area: Alaskan Coastline, the Inside Passage Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Weather Data from the Bridge
Clouds: Overcast 7/8
Visibility: 8 Nautical Miles
Wind: 21 knots
Temperature
Dry Bulb: 12.0 degrees Celsius
Barometer: 997.0 millibars
Latitude: 55.23 degrees North
Longitude: -133.22 degrees West
Science and Technology Log
Watching The Sonar
I was able to go out on another launch boat Sunday to collect survey data. It was a beautiful day with amazing scenery to make it by far the best office I have ever been too. Despite the fact that the ship is usually “off the grid” in many ways, the location of their work environment, or office, in Alaska is visually stunning no matter where you turn. Keeping your eyes off the cedar trees and focused on the sonar in a launch can be challenging at times! However, when there is a specific job to be done that involves time and money, then the scenery can wait until the job is finished. During Sunday’s launch survey we had to clean up some “Holidays” and acquire some cross line data.
View Of the Data Acquired For the Ship On The Bridge
The word “Holiday” might lead to some confusion about what you might think we are doing when you read that word. Holiday =vacation right? In this case it is when there is a gap, or missing information, in the survey data that is acquired. This poses a problem for the survey technicians because this leaves holes in the data that they must use for their final charts. Holidays can be caused by the boat or ship being off the planned line, unexpected shoaling (or where the water gets shallow) so the swath width decreases, or a slope angling away from the transducer so that a return path for the sound wave is not possible. The speed, direction, weather, swells, rocking of the boat, and the launches making wider turns than anticipated. It is easy to see where holidays occur as we are surveying because amidst the rainbow of color there will be a white pixel or square showing that data is missing. When we are finished surveying or “painting” an area, we communicate with the coxswain where we need to go back and survey over the missing data or holidays. If there are holidays or data is missing from the survey, then the survey technicians must explain why the data is missing in their final Descriptive Report. This document covers everything that was done during the project from how the area was chosen to survey, what data was collected, what data wasn’t collected and why. This is where holidays are explained, which could be due to lack of time or safety concerns.
Ship Hydrographic Survey
This launch was a little different because we were cleaning up holidays from the Rainiers’ multibeam. Not only do the smaller survey boats collect sea floor surface data, but the Rainier has its own expensive multibeam sonar as well. The ships sonar is called a Kongsberg EM 710 and was made in Norway. Having the Rainier fitted with a multibeam sonar allows the ship to acquire data in deeper water and allows for a wider swath coverage. The lines that are surveyed on the ocean floor are also much longer than those in a launch. This means that instead of taking around 5-10 minutes to acquire a line of data, it can take around 30 minutes or more with the ship. This is great data because again, the ship can cover more area and in deeper water. We also took the ships previous data and ran cross lines over it. The importance of running a cross line over previous survey data helps to confirm or deny that the data acquired is good data. However, there is a catch to running a cross line. To confirm the data they have to use a different system than what was used before, the cross line has to be conducted on a different day, and it has to be during a different tide. All of this is done to know for sure that the data is acquired has as few errors as possible before the projects are finished.
Rainier Multibeam Sonar
Personal Log
Each day when the scientists go out and survey the ocean floor they acquire tens of gigabytes of information! The big question is what is next after they have acquired it all? When they are on the launch they have a small external hard drive that holds 500 gigabytes to a terabyte of information plugged into their computer. At the end of the day all their information and files are downloaded to this hard drive and placed in a water tight container in case it happens to get dropped. Keeping the newly acquired data safe and secure is of the utmost importance. Losing data and having to re-survey areas due to a human error costs tens of thousands of dollars, so everything must get backed up and saved constantly. This is where I have noticed that computer skills and file management are so important in this area of research.
Once we get off of the boats the data is brought upstairs to what is called the plot room. This is where all the survey technicians computers are set up for them to work on their projects. The technicians that are in charge of downloading all the data and compiling all the files together is called night processing. There are numerous software programs (tides, CTD casts, POS, TPU, Hypack,) and data from these programs that all have to be combined so that the technicians can produce a finished product for the Pacific Hydrographic Branch (part of Hydrographic Surveys Division), who then process the data some more before submitting to Marine Charting Division to make the final chart. The main software program that combines all the different data is called Caris and comes out of Canada. Once all of the data has been merged together it allows the technicians start cleaning up their data and produce a graphic plan for the launches to follow the next day. Every movement on the keyboard or with the mouse is very important with surveying because everything is done digitally. Numerous new files are created each day in a special way so that anyone that reads the name will know which ship it came from, the day, and the year. File management and computer skills are key to keeping the flow of work consistent and correct each day.
We have also had numerous fire drills while on the ship. This is very important so that everyone knows where to go and what to do in case of an emergency. They had me help out with the fire fighters and the hose this time. I learned how to brace the fire fighter so that the force from the hose doesn’t knock them over. I never knew that would be an issue with fire fighting until this drill. I learn so many new things on this ship every day!
NOAA TEACHER AT SEA CATHRINE PRENOT FOX NOAA SHIP OSCAR DYSON JULY 24 – AUGUST 14, 2011
Personal Log:
Late night television=brain torture. I think late night t.v. might be designed to shrink brain neurons: shopping networks, exercise shows, self help and reality programs. Some studies have even linked watching late night t.v. to obesity and sleep deprivation. I’d rather stab myself with a butter knife than be trapped on a couch watching a self help guru in the middle of the night… …On the Oscar Dyson, though? You couldn’t drag me away from the 4:30 a.m. screen, as it shows a live feed of the floor of the ocean 100 meters below us.
The camera drops were just one part of the night-time research aboard the Oscar Dyson. Dr. Jodi Pirtle, a post doctoral research associate at the University of New Hampshire Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, utilized her lab hours to explore and document “untrawlable” portions of our survey area. Rocky bottoms, pinnacles, shelves… …all make it difficult to drop a net down to get an accurate reading of groundfish diversity and abundance without destroying the net.
Throughout the night the ship maneuvers tight turns to provide high resolution acoustic signals of the bottom. My fellow Teacher at Sea, Staci DeSchryver, describes the ship’s movements as akin to “lawn mowing.” My father, watching the NOAA ship tracker online after one of these sessions, asked if the captain had had one too many cocktails (absolutely not, by the way). These turns, in addition to making me sleep like a baby, provide an overlapping and highly accurate map of the ocean floor. Below is a multibeam image of a seamount (underwater mountain) mapped during the 2004 Gulf of Alaska Seamount Expedition.
“In this multibeam image of Ely Seamount, the caldera (aka the Crater of Doom) is visible at the apex of the seamount.” Image courtesy of Jason Chaytor, NOAA
After a night of intensive napping, I mean mapping, I go on shift at 4am. I know I have mentioned this before, but I have the best job in the world: my first task in the morning is helping with camera deployment. I am sure you will agree after checking out Issue 14 that several camera drops equal the best Late Night T.V. I have ever seen (Cartoon citations 1 and 2).
