Tag: bridge tour

Posted on

Sena Norton, July 7, 2004

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Sena Norton
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 6 – 15, 2004

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Date: July 7, 2004

Location: In transit to Shumagin Is. Via Shelikof Strait
Latitude: 57 43.2 N
Longitude: 154 58.4 W
Visibility: 10+
Wind Direction: 280 degrees
Wind Speed: 18 kt
Sea wave height: 2-4 ft
Swell wave height: 2-4 ft at 210 degrees
Seawater temperature: 10.6 C
Sea level pressure: 1020.1 mb
Cloud cover: PC 2/8
Weather: 12.2 C, sunny with moon visible straight off bow

Science and Technology Log

I learned about the NOAA Nautical Charting Program today. A nautical chart shows the marine environment in a visual format for navigation purposes primarily. Any mariner needs to have an ability to use fixed points to plot a course and know/avoid any underwater or other hazards along the way. Most charts show hazards, natural and dredged channels, water depth and other features that are needed for safe navigation. The National Ocean Services marine Chart Division is in charge of 1,000s of charts. Most mariners use these charts along with the U.S. Coast Pilot when ever they are out. When changes are charted a new chart is made. From the time the NOAA Ship RAINIER makes their readings it takes between 3-5 years to be produced in chart format and readily made available. New charts are asked to be made for uncharted, poorly charted or changed areas. The three hydrographic ships that NOAA maintains do on average 50 charting runs a season for updates. However, with the current backlog of changes only 200-300 items are updated a year. The cycle of a update goes as follows: first chart users relay needs, second the Hydrographic Surveys Division prioritizes the resources and produces survey instructions, third, a NOAA field unit travels to the location and conducts the hydro survey, fourthly, the data is examined at a on shore branch and prepared for application on new chart and finally the Marine Chart Division is complied and printed. NOAA is not the only team member on this mission; other important organizations provide data for new charts. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provide dredge and channels depths, U.S. Coast Guard maintains navigational aids, GPS beacons and other communication sources, while the Photogrammetry unit of NOAA complies aerial photos for shoreline and landmark additions.

The bridge is an important part of the overall ship function. The ship is driven from this location, the progress made is plotted and recorded and hourly logs are kept with various location and condition data. I take my condition and location directly from the ships log when I write these logs. Today there were a few ships on the radar and the officers wanted to make visual contact with them. I got to keep a lookout for the one off the port/south side of the ship with binoculars. The helm is where the ship is driven from and is kept on course with direction relation to the nautical chart and heading. Small adjustments have to be made from time to time to keep the correct bearing due to changed in sea swell and wind direction. The bridge is always manned 24 hours a day because of the importance of what is done there. We are making about 13 knots today with a friendly wind and hope to be anchored in the Shumagin Is. by tomorrow. We will commence the ships hydro at 0300 tomorrow morning to begin the surveying of the area.

Question of the Day:

How far is a fathom? 6 feet
How many people are on board? 74 crew/officers 5 visitors / 79 total

Day Activities:

  • Interviewed Chief Yeoman Paul and discussed his role/responsibilities on the ship. He in charge of bills, keeping track of expenses, ordering fuel and stores, personnel changes and promotions, a liaison between crew and command and manages expenses overall.
  • Visited the bridge and interviewed various officers and crew about bridge processes and equipment.
  • Wrote down some possible classroom curriculum options.
  • Discussed curriculum with fellow TAS, read some NOAA research and PR.
  • Downloaded some important pictures for use in curriculum/reports from ships computer network.
Personal Log
The night was a little rough with the swell height and wind direction and speed. They call my room the anti-gravity chamber and every once in awhile I could tell why. Today the rocking and rolling is much better and at times I think that I have my sea legs back. It is still unique to walk around on a ship that is bobbing; you get a different feeling when the deck is not where your foot thought it should be. I have put much thought into what I can turn this experience into as far as curriculum goes and my fellow TAS and I have been bouncing some ideas off of each other. There is much to say about the value of sharing this experience with a colleague as well as having the chance to discuss in general with that same colleague. I think that there is a professional connection being made thanks to the NOAA Teacher At Sea program! The science behind the survey process with help and that is a main goal to learn about, however there is something more to this experience that I haven’t put my finger on yet…give it some time…something that the sea is very well trained at allowing you to have.

For now,
S.

Posted on

Diane Stanitski: Day 7, August 17, 2002

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Diane Stanitski

Aboard NOAA Ship Ka’imimoana

August 16-30, 2002

Day 7: Saturday, August 17, 2002
Time: 0700 military time (based on a 24-hour time schedule)

Latitude: 21°14.715’North (N) Cruising just south of the Big Island of Hawaii visible this morning from the port (left) side of the ship when facing forward
Longitude: 157°57.378’West (W)

Weather Observations taken from the bow of the ship with Shippensburg University’s hand-held Kestrel 3000 instrument:

Air Temperature: 27°C (80.6°F)
Average Wind Speed: 6.3 knots (7.3 mph)
Cloud Cover: 8/10 with mostly altocumulus (middle level, puffy) and cirrocumulus (high level, puffy) clouds
Precipitation in previous 24 hours: 0 cm (0 inches)
Relative Humidity: 89%
Dew Point Temperature: 24.8°C (76.6°F) Relatively calm seas; beautiful sunrise; Porpoises spotted on the port (left) side of the ship

Quote written on the Plan of the Day (POD) posted outside the Main Mess (meal) area: “All excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.”
– Benedict Spinoza

After a restful night’s sleep on my upper bunk, I awoke ready for a new day! It struck me as I was lulling into a peaceful sleep that my mattress felt just like a waterbed. I thought that I was rolling around on a bowl of jello, a neat feeling which made me relax. I am fortunate that I haven’t experienced any seasickness yet. A few others haven’t been so lucky. Michelle, our fearless Medical Officer on board, has distributed medication for seasickness to those needing it. It is recommended that you breathe in fresh air and watch the horizon for a while if ever you feel queasy.

After touring the outer decks of the ship watching the sun rise above the morning clouds on the horizon, I stopped to speak with crew member Roger Stone who said that every day is slightly different because the sky is always changing. He recalled seeing a white rainbow at night under a full moon. I had never heard of this so I’m intrigued about what would cause such a remarkable feature.

Breakfast was interesting because I spoke with Rachel, a Cadet, and Steve, our Field Operations Officer (FOO) who received a degree in Meteorology at the University of Nebraska. We discussed Steve’s research and he said that I could come up to the bridge to take weather observations anytime. Yahoo! For some reason beyond me, weather obs are not everyone’s favorite activity of the day. Rachel taught me the difference between a pitching and rolling boat. She said that a pitching boat rocks front to back (up and down), while a rolling boat rocks side to side. She is currently taking a course requiring that she write a complete report of all of her activities while on board. I hope to learn many things from her, including celestial navigation — how to find your way using the stars. Can’t wait!

I learned from Steve that the reason it was a bit rocky in the ship last night was due to our travels through currents emerging from between the Hawaiian Islands. The currents disturbed the forward motion of the boat. Unknown to me, currents are named for the direction toward which they flow, unlike winds, which are named for the direction from which they blow. So, if ocean currents and winds are moving in the same direction, they have opposite directional names – very interesting!

I spent part of the day organizing my thoughts regarding my upcoming lesson plans. There are so many exciting ideas generated each day by the scientists as we talk. I will definitely interview the scientists on the ship about their current research as well as use the opportunity to describe the many mechanical and electronic sensors on board to everyone watching the webcasts. Please let me know what you would like to know more about and I’ll try to include it in a future webcast.

John pointed out flying fish on the port side of the boat today. They are quite small and it is believed that they fly to flee from whatever is gaining on them. They don’t have great ability to determine direction and they stay in the air for just a few seconds before splashing into the water again.

Our location and the weather observations at 1300 today were:
Latitude: 18°37.8’N
Longitude: 155°23.7’W
Visibility: 12 nautical miles (nm) which is about the greatest distance you can see due to the curvature of the earth
Wind direction: 060 (on a 0-360° scale) which means ENE
Wind speed: 19 kts
Sea wave height: 5-7′
Swell wave height: 6-8′
Sea Water Temperature: 26.6°C
Sea level pressure: 1015.0 mb
Dry bulb temperature: 26.2°C
Wet bulb temperature: 23.5°C

Sarah and Rachel gave me a tour of the ship’s bridge this afternoon. They discussed every aspect of their job and it was fascinating! They have radar on the ship to detect nearby ships and severe weather. On the front panel of the bridge there is an automatic pilot system for the ship. There are also throttles for the main engines, which allow us to travel at approximately 10-12 kts under ideal conditions. The bow thruster controls movement of the front of the ship from left to right. They described radio communication procedures with other ships, explained who has right of way when two ships are merging, and provided details about the nautical charts used during each journey. I made the mistake of calling nautical charts “maps” and was politely corrected. I will place this new term in my memory bank for future reference. I also was privy to a chart showing our upcoming transit line with waypoints approximately every 200 miles. The ship remains in a straight path until a certain point where a slight change of direction is made, otherwise, the bearing would constantly change as the ship’s path slowly curved.

After a workout and excellent meal of chicken stirfry, cauliflower, rice and pecan pie prepared by Helen and Doretha, I met with John who informed me that there would be a deployment of a test buoy tomorrow around 0900 and that he would like to videotape me on the buoy before it’s sent out to sea to explain the instrumentation on the mast. Earlier today I met with Dave and Paul, our Chief Scientists on board, and they explained the entire array of sensors and the purpose behind the buoy. It will be deployed and removed during this trip with data collected every few seconds and stored in a datalogger on the mast. During the return voyage of the KA to Honolulu in late September the buoy will be removed from the water and the data analyzed immediately following the trip. A compass comparison test and a buoy motion monitor test will be conducted. A specially engineered tube containing 3 different compasses and an accelerometer will enable the pitch, roll, and yaw of the buoy to be determined. As of yet, I believe that these movements on the buoy are unknown.

Today’s question: What is the pitch, roll, and yaw of a ship? Be the first to answer and I’ll acknowledge your response in my next log. I’ll write again tomorrow after a peaceful night under the millions of visible stars above.

Peace to all and to all a good night,
Diane