Tag: hydrography

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Sena Norton, July 9, 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 9, 2004

Location: In transit to Shumagin Island collection, due to anchor at NW Egg Island Date: Friday, July 09, 2004
Latitude: N 55 degrees 26.60’
Longitude: W 159 degrees 33.97’
Visibility: <1 mile
Direction: 221 degrees
Wind Speed: 13 kts
Sea wave height: 0-1 ft
Swell wave height: 1-2 ft
Seawater temperature: 10.6 deg C
Sea level pressure: 1016.0 mb
Cloud Cover: 8/8
Weather: 11.7 deg C, fog cover most of the day, some clearing into high cloud cover.

Plan of Day:

1200 stop ship hydro and begin transit to Shumagin Is, specifically Egg Island for anchorage. Anchor set for 2100 or earlier.

Science and Technology Log

The local patch that was being surveyed is too large to finish in one pass. The RAINIER had already done a few lines during their previous legs and on this pass we got about 10- 12 lines surveyed. They will steam back by here to finish the patch at a later date. Tomorrow is set for the first of 5 days of small boat launches and survey. Because I will be aboard a launch I was run through some basic boat safety this afternoon. I was also given an engine room tour and simple explanation and spoke with some crewmembers about standing watch. The XO showed me some books that might be of interest for my curriculum planning and also my general knowledge.

Small Boat Safety and Etiquette

The launches are put in the water around 0800 and will stay out doing survey work till 1600 or so. There will be a complement of people aboard: the coxswain who drives the boat and in charge of safety, three officers from the ship who will run the program and collect data and myself. The launches are stored on the gravity davits along the ship. The boats will be lowered to deck level where the crew will get on board and then the boat is lowered to the water and unhooked. Getting on board the launch you must wear the Mustang survival coat and a hard hat. Nothing is to be in your hands while you board, so all other material need to be near the rail and will be handed over once you are onboard. One of the most dangerous times on the ship are launching and taking up the smaller boats. You are required to wear positive flotation at all times and since the Mustang jacket is bulky and warm, I was issued a float vest. We are launching number 5 and number 3 boats tomorrow.

Standing Watch

While underway there is a rotating watch schedule 4 on, 8 off, 4 on is its most simple explanation. An example watch schedule would be 0800 – 1200 on watch 1200 – 2000 off, 2000 – 2400 on again. So you work 8-12 on both sides of am and pm. Even though the routine is easy to remember it is very difficult on your body and your sleep schedule. The added hardship is the constant light this far north and the pitch black of your berth. For a visitor who has kept a normal sleeping routine you have a different perspective on just what is required for this ship to keep going 24 hours a day. There is a lot more upkeep then I expected and the watch standers are those people. While anchored most people go back to a normal 8 hour work shift, although some of those work shifts are at night there isn’t the constant change.

Engine Room Tour

The engine room tour was loud, even through earplugs and head phone like muffs that roar is amazing. You hear it throughout the ship but nothing compares to the pure sound when you are right next to it. The control room looks out over the two main engines. Each engine turns the port or starboard screw. Control over the engines can be given to the bridge but ultimately if the engineers need to control anything that comes from that area they are all powerful. There is fuel to keep moving to balance out the ships list, fresh water to make, generators to watch so as not to over load any of their out-puts. In a sense the engine room is the heart of the ship. Being self contained completely means that everything has to be running well. This ship even in port generates its own power and while out at sea is capable of making fresh water from salt water. I felt very much at home seeing as I have been in many engine rooms in my life with my father, I plan on going down there a few more times during my time on board.

Question of Day:

How long would it take to survey the entire patch? 8 days going 24 hours/day.

Personal Log

I did a lot of research today from the resources made available to me from the XO. Today was also a day I collaborated with my fellow TAS, something educators rarely get enough time to do. We bounced off a few adaptations of what we have already learned from our time on board. I hope to continue this process throughout my time onboard. No more seasick patch, I think that I am doing well and can handle the rolls. There is some crazy weather on the way too! If it chooses to run up into the Bering Strait we are okay but according to the XO, if the low pressure rides on the south side of the Aleutians it might get sketchy. The RAINIER would have to find a place to hole up and wait for the storm to pass because she is such a small, top-heavy ship. So I might just get a wild Alaskan ship ride after all.

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Leyf Peirce, July 8, 2004

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Leyf Peirce
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 6 – 15, 2004

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Date: July 8, 2004

Time: 09:00
Latitude: N 55°41.71
Longitude: W 158°03.81
Visibility: < 1 foot
Wind direction: 230
Wind speed: 10 knots
Sea wave height: 0 – 1 feet
Swell wave height: 0 – 2 feet
Sea water temperature: 10.0 °C
Sea level pressure: 1021.3 mb
Air temperature: 10.0 °C
Cloud cover: fog

Science and Technology Log

As I am typing my journal entry, I learn there are several good pictures on the network server of the RAINIER and its crew. Here is just one that I found:

Peirce 7-8-04 Rainier
NOAA Ship RAINIER underway. Credit: NOAA.

From this picture, I can see that the aft most launch ship has been launched for survey, for there are 3 launch boats on either side of the ship. I talked further with the crew today about interesting characteristics of this ship, including a “field trip” with Lt. Kevin Slover to inspect the hulls of the launch boats to see the echo sounding devices. I learned that there are actually 3 different types of these devices: one with low resolution for very deep water, one for a little higher resolution of deep water, and one with high resolution for shallower water. These devices cost up to $25,000! I was able to get pictures of the three types; however I am not able to download them onto the computer yet. Lt. Slover also showed me more of the Caris program, the most recent computer program used to collect and analyze the data. I say most recent used, because these programs are constantly being changed and updated to be more accurate, user-friendlier, and display better graphics. One of the most interesting features of this program is not only its accuracy, but also the ability to look at the computer created images of the ocean floor from any angle. One of the images pulled up as an example showed a shipwreck off of the coast of Seward in about 38 meters of water. The details of this sunken ship were almost crystal clear! Of course, this is after the data has been corrected and cleaned. I hope to work more with this program as we start the launches tomorrow and Saturday.

I also spent some time on the bridge again today. There, I learned a few interesting trivia facts about this ship:

  • The RAINIER was built in 1968 along with 2 other identical ships, the MT. MITCHELL and the FAIRWEATHER, all specifically for NOAA; these three were commissioned in 1969
  • There are 2 main engines aboard this ship, both have 1200 Horsepower and they are the same type of diesel engines as those used in locomotives
  • To figure out the cloud height, one can apply the equation: (wet bulb temp – dry bulb temp)*126.3; there was some dispute on how accurate this is, but for today it works since the wet bulb temperature = dry bulb temperature, so the cloud cover, according to this equation, is at 0 feet which is true since we are in a cloud today with all of this fog
  • The boat was originally built to support 4 launch boats and 2 life rafts, however it was recently modified to have 6 launch boats on it; to counteract this weight up top, more ballast had to be added to the bottom

A launch boat also left today at 08:00 to conduct further hydrographic research, and the RAINIER maintains her course, “mowing the lawn” in a section of uncharted waters between Kodiak and the Shumagin Islands. Once this area is completed, we will head to the Shumagin Islands to anchor and send more launch boats throughout the next week before we return to Kodiak. This is such an adventure!

Personal Log

The foghorn blows every 2 minutes on this ship, and it acts as a great wake up call. This morning, the horn reminds me that we are sailing in a sea of uncharted and now seemingly invisible territory. I feel like an explorer thrown into the time of Captain Cook, half expecting to see a pirate ship emerge from the eerie blanket that surrounds us. However, the multitude of technology aboard this ship flaunts the modern times in which we live and, in doing so, destroys any hope of true exploration of the unknown. Still an explorer at heart, I also still find adventure in what we are doing. We are still conducting hydro research aboard the RAINIER, “mowing the lawn” across uncharted territory, so we are only moving at about 7 knots. A launch boat was also sent out today to investigate near by waters. As I sit here responding to emails and learning even more about how this ship works, I am anxious to see the data that is collected now be processed.

Question for the Day:

In talking with P.S. Shyla Allen and Lt. Kevin Slover, we discussed the rewards of this job—how does this work help society? Both agreed that one of the most rewarding, but somewhat scary, aspects of this job is being able to accurately chart and re-chart high traffic waters. They both said that there are often calls from local fisherman demanding more detailed and more accurate charts. P.S. Allen informed me that there is a group of retired U.S. Coast Guard members that will conduct their own charting research in order to expedite the charting process. While helpful, this is not always the most accurate information. However, I did begin thinking about ways to include local fisherman in the research; to ensure the data that they collect is more accurate. My question for the day is more of an engineering design problem and proposed solution defined:

Problem: Local fishermen travel the coastal waters along Alaska to make a living. However, these waters are poorly charted, if charted at all. As of now, fishermen use a “Hummingbird” device to measure the depth of water where they travel, but there is no electronic device that can record this data accurately, correct this data for margins of error, and combine this data to produce an accurate nautical chart aboard these fishing vessels. While boats such as the RAINIER have this capability, expanding the number of vessels capable of collecting and analyzing such data would expedite the nautical chart updating process.

Proposed Solution: Design, test, and implement a device that abides by the following parameters: not very expensive, accurate, maintains the same abilities as the multibeam echo sounding devices aboard the RAINIER, has the capability of communicating with the computers aboard the RAINIER to share information collected, and can be mounted on the fishing vessels in such a way that it will not alter steering or speed.

I asked Lt. Slover if there is much government funding for such engineering projects, and he assured me there is—most of the U.S.’s imported goods arrive by ship, so more accurate and up to date nautical charts are a large priority.