Tag: data buoys

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Tonya Prentice: Introduction, August 2, 2024

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Tonya Prentice
Aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow
August 8 – August 24, 2024

Mission: Northeast Ecosystem Monitoring Survey 

Geographic Area of Cruise: Northeast Atlantic Ocean

Date: August 2, 2024

Weather Data from Southwest Harbor, Maine
Latitude: 44.2805 º  N  
Longitude: -68.326º W
Wind Speed: WSW at 11 mph
Air Temperature: 18.89° Celsius (66° F)

Introduction

Hello, my name is Tonya Prentice. I am so excited to begin my adventure aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow for the NOAA Teacher at Sea 2024 Season. I teach middle school science for grades 5-8 on Mount Desert Island, Maine, at Tremont Consolidated School in Bass Harbor. This is my 17th year of teaching, and I am passionate about engaging my students with project-based learning, community service opportunities, and STEM activities.

In my role as an educator, I strive to create engaging and interdisciplinary learning experiences for my students with a focus on ocean literacy. My students are the next generation of environmental stewards. They live on an island, and many of their families are lobstermen and/or fishermen who rely on the health of the ocean. We are fortunate that our school is located in a beautiful area that borders Acadia National Park and is across the street from Bass Harbor. This allows me to take my students hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing, and exploring the ecosystems all around us.

The health of our ecosystems may be altered in different ways by human impact. It’s vital that my students understand how climate change and coastal flooding may impact their lives in the future. As a NOAA Teacher at Sea, I am excited to bring real-world scientific research into my classroom and inspire my students with firsthand experiences. I look forward to sharing my adventures and discoveries with you, and I hope to ignite a passion for marine science and environmental stewardship in both my students and readers.

Stay tuned for updates from the sea!

A woman and a man pose for a selfie on a kayak in front of glassy water reflecting a lovely sunset. They are wearing sweaters, life vests, beanies, and sunglasses.
Tonya Prentice (right)
six students (with their backpacks) sit in a line, facing away from the camera, on top a large round rock overlooking a small inlet surrounded by forested hills; small islets are visible beyond.
Top of Bubble Rock
view of at least four harbor seals basking on rocks in bright blue ocean water; in the distance we see a farther shoreline and mountains.
Harbor seals
Three people lean over clumps of seagrasses in a tide pool area. They have placed a one meter square of PVC pipe down on the grasses. Two of them use a measuring tape while another picks through the grass. A purple sample bucket with a plastic bag and laminated identification sheets sits off to the side. The people wear high-visibility vests.
Green crab research
three people kayak toward a tree-lined coastline, their backs to the camera. they wear life vests. the water is calm beneath a blue sky.
Kayaking in the salt marsh
view from the ocean of a lighthouse perched on the rocky cliffs of an island coastline. The light itself is painted white, with a black top, and nearby are a few additional buildings that are white with red roofs. The cluster of buildings is surrounded by tall conifers. The sky is blue with a few fluffy white clouds.
Bass Harbor Head Light Station


Science and Technology Log

Next week, I will board the 209 ft. NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow in Newport, Rhode Island.

“The ship is named after Henry Bryant Bigelow (1879-1967), an oceanographer, zoologist, and marine biologist whose work helped establish oceanography as a scientific discipline.” (NOAA OMAO.)

NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow “is a fisheries survey vessel built specifically for NOAA to support the study and monitoring of marine fisheries and marine mammals.” (NOAA Ocean Exploration.) The ship conducts both acoustic and trawl surveys and has a wet lab where scientists can collect data about the different species of fish caught.

While aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow, I will have the opportunity to deploy a drifting buoy (also known as a drifter) as part of NOAA’s Adopt-a-Drifter Program. The buoy will collect data such as sea surface temperature, salinity, and ocean currents. This data will then be transmitted hourly to orbiting satellites which my students will be able to monitor.

aerial view of NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow underway, as seen from the portside. it's a large white ship with the NOAA logo next to the identifiers NOAA R 225. the surrounding water is so dark it appears black.
Aerial view of NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow. Photo credit: NOAA.

Personal Log

Last week, I attended the University of Maine’s RiSE Coastal TRACERS training.

“The University of Maine-based RiSE Center supports middle and high school students in real-world science research projects, including coastal monitoring and tracking the changes in local ocean water properties, as well as engaging in the design and construction of the sensor units used to collect this data.” (UMaine.)

As part of my training, I toured the “Buoy Barn” at the University of Maine Ocean Observing System (UMOOS). Dr. Neal Pettigrew, professor of oceanography, led the tour while explaining how these moored buoys in the Gulf of Maine help collect data and information about ocean temperatures, salinities, dissolved oxygen, wave heights and periods, and current profiles.  “The buoys, designed, fabricated and maintained by Dr. Pettigrew’s team of oceanographers, engineers, computer programmers and research associates, have been transmitting real-time data since 2001.”  Such amazing work is happening at the University of Maine!

Two large buoys in a storage shed. They are wide and round at the bottom, to float in the ocean, and towers of sensors and equipment extend upward from each base. The buoys are painted mostly yellow, with blue bottoms and blue lettering: the left buoy reads NOAA and the right reads UPRM.
Land/Ocean Biogeochemical Observatory (LOBO) Data Buoys
a large buoy in a storage shed (flanked by other buoys and equipment, only partially visible.) It are wide and round at the bottom, to float in the ocean, and towers of sensors and equipment extend upward from the base. The buoy is painted mostly yellow, with blue bottom and blue lettering: the buoy reads NOAA 41052. The word CariCOOS is visible in smaller letters on the tower portion.
Land/Ocean Biogeochemical Observatory (LOBO) Data Buoy
this vessel looks like a small sailboat, one too small to fit people. in fact, the hull is covered completely (no room for seating) and dotted with solar panels. The hull is red, and the sails are white and orange. It's inside a storage shed, and ocean buoys are partially visible behind it.
Navocean
Automated Surface Vessel
ocean monitoring equipment in a storage shed; this glider is shaped a bit like a small airplane (aerodynamic body, wings, tail.) It's stored on a small trailer or cart with wheels, on top of a bench.
Slocum Electric Glider
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Samantha Adams: A Brief Introduction to… July 21, 2017

NOAA Teacher at Sea

Samantha Adams

Aboard NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai

July 25 – August 3, 2017

Mission: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Hawaii Ocean Time-series Station deployment (WHOTS-14)

Geographic Area of Cruise: Hawaii, Pacific Ocean

Date: 21 July 2017

Weather Data from the “Bridge” (New York City, NY):

Latitude & Longitude: 40.78°N, 73.97°W. Air temperature: 90°F. Wind direction: Variable. Wind speed: 7 mph. Sky Cover: Broken.

… the Science:

Aerial view of the Hi'ialakai
The NOAA ship Hi’ialakai. Photo courtesy of NOAA.

In just a few short days (huzzah!) I’ll have the privilege of sailing aboard NOAA ship Hi’ialakai on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s fourteenth Hawaii Ocean Time-series station deployment. Although I’ve not yet seen the ship or met the scientists I’ll be learning from and working with (I haven’t even left the mainland US!), I’ve been eagerly doing research to catch up on some of the basics.

ALOHAStationLocation
The location of the ALOHA measurement site. Photo courtesy of the University of Hawai’i.

Since 2004, the WHOTS stations have been measuring the interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere, as part of a long term study on ocean circulation. The site where the WHOTS stations are deployed is called ALOHA (A Long-Term Oligotrophic Habitat Assessment), located about 100 kilometers north of Oahu, Hawaii. The ALOHA station, maintained and monitored by the University of Hawai’i since 1988, makes oceanographic measurements (like water temperature, direction and speed of ocean currents, and amounts of plankton). The objective of the project is to use the area as a case study, as it is representative of the North Pacific subtropical gyre.

 

Diagram of Pacific Ocean circulations.
Diagram of the gyres (circulations) in the North Pacific Ocean. The green circles labeled “WGP” and “EGP” show the locations of the Western and Eastern Garbage Patches. Image courtesy of NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center.

WHOTS-14 mooring diagram.
Diagram of the WHOTS station. Notice how many instruments are on the mooring line, below the surface! Photo courtesy of the University of Hawai’i.

 

WHOTS stations are moored (anchored) buoys. The buoy includes instruments floating on the surface to measure the weather (air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, etc.), and there are also instruments along the mooring line to measure things like water temperature, currents and salinity. The instruments below the surface make measurements at the same time as the meteorological measurements on the surface, so that air and sea interactions can be accurately studied.

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution visit the ALOHA site every year, to deploy a new WHOTS station, and retrieve older ones. Check out this video of the WHOTS-13 research cruise!

… the Teacher:

The summer I turned five, my house was struck by lightning. The bolt blew out my window, scattering glass shards across my bed, blasted chunks of concrete out of the driveway below, and set the garage on fire — which was almost immediately put out by torrential rain. I have been fascinated by the atmosphere ever since. When I learned I had been chosen for the WHOTS-14 research cruise, I was ecstatic. Not only because I’d been selected to participate in such an amazing opportunity, but because I would have the chance to learn more about the oceans, and how they interact with the ocean of air above them. 

Students making weather measurements.
PAIHS Monroe students measuring water vapor and aerosols in the atmosphere, November 2016. Photo by SJ Adams.

I have taught science in New York City for eight years. For the past six years, I have taught twelfth grade geoscience at Pan American International High School at the James Monroe campus (PAIHS Monroe), in the Bronx. Each year, I do my best to get my students as excited about science as I am. For the past few years, that has meant dragging them outside in near-freezing temperatures to measure the local air quality. (So, maybe not the best method I could have chosen!)

(All of my students: “It’s too cold, Miss!” Samantha: “If it’s not too cold for the instruments, it’s not too cold for you!”)

These measurements were made as part of NASA GLOBE‘s Air Quality Student Research Campaign, and I was able to present their work at NASA Langley Research Center.

I hope that my experiences aboard the Hi’ialakai with the WHOTS-14 research cruise will teach me more about the ocean of air we live in, and help me develop more — warmer — ways to get my students interested in science!

Scientific poster of atmospheric water vapor measurements.
PAIHS Monroe students studied a method of measuring water vapor in the air with an infrared thermometer as part of NASA GLOBE’s Air Quality Student Research Campaign.

Did You Know?

From NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation operations page: “Hi‘ialakai is a combination of Hawaiian words. Hi‘i means “to hold in one’s arms”; ala is route; and kai is the sea. Thus, NOAA named this ship to signify “embracing pathways to the sea”.”