News
OOI Endurance Array team sets sail on fall O&M cruise
On Sunday Sept. 18, the R/V Atlantis set sail off the coast of Oregon and Washington for a 17-day Operations and Maintenance cruise of the OOI Coastal Endurance Array. During this cruise, the OOI team led by Oregon State University (OSU) will recover and redeploy six surface moorings as well as the Washington Offshore Profiler Mooring and several uncabled surface piercing profilers. The team will also recover 1 coastal glider and deploy 5-6 more.
Biannual maintenance cruises are an important element of OOI Coastal Array operation and maintenance as it ensures that infrastructure and instrumentation in the ocean are constantly replaced before they break and are refreshed to minimize the influence of bio-fouling and sensor drift. The coastal ocean is a harsh environment; equipment are constantly blasted by sand and debris and beaten by waves. Additionally, full, high resolution, data sets are able to be downloaded from the recovered instrumentation, increasing the data available from the telemetered near-real time data sent to shore via satellite.
The OSU-team has been hard at work to prepare the OOI equipment for deployment. A time-lapse video (below) shows a mere 10 days of that effort as they integrate mooring elements and prepare to place these equipment out to sea for six-months.
[media type="video" path="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKR8z10zKwM&feature=youtu.be" link="#"][/media] Read MoreOOI scientists and Data Team to present at MTS/IEEE Oceans 16 Meeting
Scientists and engineers from the OOI Marine Implementing Organizations (MIOs) and the OOI Data Team are gearing up to present at the 2016 MTS/IEEE Oceans conference in Monterey Bay, CA September 19 – 22, 2016.
The event is set to draw an international audience of more than 2,000 attendees. The conference will center around presentations and posters from over 500 professionally reviewed technical papers, including those submitted by OOI scientists and engineers.
We look forward to connecting with you all at the conference.
OOI Related Presentations
Tuesday Sept. 20
1:30-3:00, Marriott: San Francisco
- Wilcock, W.D.S., D.A. Schmidt, J.E. Vidale, M.J. Harrington, P. Boudin, et al. Designing an Offshore Geophysical Network in the Pacific Northwest for Earthquake and Tsunami Early Warning and Hazard Research
Manalang, D., and J.R. Delaney. Axial Seamount – Restless, Wired and Occupied: A Conceptual overview of Resident AUV Operations and Technologies.
Kelley, D.S., J.R. Delaney, and the Cabled Array Team. NSF’s Cabled Array: A Wired Tectonic Plate and Overlying Ocean
5:30-5:00, Marriott: San Francisco
- McRae, E. Continuous Real Time Scanning of the Upper Ocean Water Column.
Wednesday Sept. 21
10:30-12:00, Portola: Cotton Wood 2
- Philip, B.T., D.S. Kelley, E.A.Solomon, and J.R. Delaney. Monitoring Methane Emissions at Southern Hydrate Ridge using an OOI Cabled Array Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler.
1:30-3:00, Marriott: Santa Barbara
- Delaney, J.R., D.S. Kelley, A. Marburg, M. Stoermer, H. Hadaway, K. Juniper, and F. Knuth. Axial Seamount – Wired and Restless: A Cabled Submarine Network Enables Real-time tracking of a Mid-Ocean Ridge Eruption and Live Video of an Active Hydrothermal System Juan de Fuca Ridge, NE Pacific
Thursday Sept. 22
8:30-10:00, Marriott: Santa Barbara
- Marburg, A., and K. Bigham. Deep Learning for Benthic Fauna Identification
10:30-12:00, Portola: Cotton Wood 2
- Knuth, F., L. Belabassi, L. Garizio, M. Smith, M. Vardaro, and A. Marburg. Automated QA/QC and Time Series Analyses on OOI High-Definition Video Data
Belabbassi, L., L. Garzio, M. Smith, F. Knuth, J. Kerfoot, M. Vardaro, and M. Crowley. Successes and Lessons Learned from OOI End-to-End System Data Quality Audit
Two years of Pioneer Gliders: A track line view
In July, the OOI CGSN operations team completed another “refresh” of the Pioneer glider fleet. The nominal lifetime for OOI coastal gliders (battery limited) is 90 days. The fleet is refreshed by recovery of exhausted gliders and deployment of refurbished gliders with fresh batteries.
The Coastal Pioneer Array is designed to have 6 Coastal Gliders deployed at a time. Each glider traverses a distinct path within and around the Pioneer Array, sampling an area measuring over 24,000 km2, roughly the size of New Hampshire.
The first three Pioneer Array Coastal Gliders were deployed just over two years ago in May 2014. The map on the right shows a composite of the tracks of all the gliders deployed at Pioneer since those initial deployments.
The impressive results of glider piloting in the complex coastal environment are evidenced by the match between the composite tracks (right) and the planned tracks (left). The tracks that diverge from the plan show the difficulty of maintaining the glider navigation in the face of severe weather and strong currents.
On average, each of the 25 gliders, for which data are shown, were deployed for a duration of 66 days and travelled a distances of approximately 1200 km (750 miles). The longest deployment was 118 days and the glider travelled a distance of 2,230 km (or 1,400 miles). That is roughly the same as driving halfway across the United States!
Congrats to the Pioneer team on a job well done. This is just the beginning!
[twocol_one][caption id="attachment_10832" align="alignright" width="276"]
Pioneer Array gliders sample along five glider tracks off the coast of New England. The x- and y-axis are latitude and longitude in decimal degrees. Pioneer Array mooring sites are represented by circles. Boundaries of the glider and AUV operating areas are represented by the blue and red dashed lines, respectively. The five glider tracks are represented by the solid color lines:
-Eastern Boundary (EB) green
-Frontal Zone (FZ) red. Note: two gliders occupy this track
-Slope Sea: SS-1 blue; SS-2 cyan
-Gulf Stream (GS) gray[/caption]
[/twocol_one] [twocol_one_last]
[caption id="attachment_10715" align="aligncenter" width="507"]
Each line represents the path of one glider. Glider symbols are the last location of the glider before recovery, green dots represent deployment locations.[/caption]
[/twocol_one_last] Read More
Observing the Oceans, a Photo Tour
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the Marine Implementing Organization for the OOI Coastal Pioneer and Global Arrays has created a photo tour of their journey with the OOI from the development and design of these arrays to the completion of construction.
[media-caption type="image" path="/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/000_OOI_intro_GoPro_Armstrong_Paul_Matthias_435553.jpg" alt="The Ocean Observatories Initiative is moving full speed ahead at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution." link="https://ooi-website.whoi.edu/2016/08/observing-the-oceans-a-photo-tour/000_ooi_intro_gopro_armstrong_paul_matthias_435553"]The Ocean Observatories Initiative is moving full speed ahead at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This unprecedented ocean science project is streaming a wealth of marine data straight from the ocean to the World Wide Web, making it free for anyone to use. In the image above, an OOI coastal surface buoy is recovered from the ocean and hoisted onto the fantail of the research vessel Neil Armstrong. Photo Credit: Paul Matthias, WHOI[/media-caption] [button link="http://www.whoi.edu/visualWHOI/observing-the-ocean"]Check it out![/button] Read MoreOOI data now available from NANOOS
Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS) is now serving OOI data on their NANOOS Visualization System (NVS). Data from the OOI Coastal Endurance OR and WA Line Surface Moorings can now be viewed along side other sources including NANOOS, NSF CMOP, NOAA NDBC, and CDIP.
This effort marks the beginning of the larger effort to integrate OOI data into existing public data repositories to increase user access to these data and further facilitate interdisciplinary research by putting the OOI infrastructure in the context of other data available in the area.
Stay tuned as we continue to reach out to organizations, like IOOS, to cross post our data!
Interested in what else the community is up to with OOI data? Check out the Community Resources page on our website.
Read MoreVISIONS’16 OOI Cabled Array Maintenance Cruise Begins
On July 10, the R/V Sikuliaq left dock at the University of Washington to begin VISIONS’16, a 39-day mission to replace and maintain elements of the Cabled Array off the coasts of Oregon and Washington. Led by Chief Scientist Deb Kelley, this is the second Operations and Maintenance cruise for the Cabled Array implementing organization, as part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Ocean Observatories Initiative.
During the cruise, scientists from the University of Washington School of Oceanography within the College of the Environment and engineers from the Applied Physics Laboratory will visit all of the Cabled Array sites where they will recover, install, and test over 100 instruments and nine junction boxes. They will also recover and reinstall the Deep Profiler Moorings at the Endurance Offshore and Slope Base sites. The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason will also assist in the recovery and installation of the underwater infrastructure. This is Jason’s first time supporting the Cabled Array, which required special modifications to be made to the ROV over the past year.
The three legs of the cruise will run from July 10 to August 15, 2016.
You can learn more about the cruise on the VISIONS’16 website, which includes daily cruise logs, as well as image and video galleries. You can also follow along on Twitter (@VISIONSops), where up-to-the-minute updates about activities on board are posted.
Read MoreOOI Community Workshop: Cabled, Endurance, and Station Papa
The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) infrastructure is operational and ocean scientists can now integrate OOI observations into their research proposals and projects. The UNOLS Ocean Observing Science Committee (OOSC) along with OOI’s Science Oversight Committee (SOC) are organizing a workshop that will focus on current and future science addressed by the extensive OOI infrastructure in the Northeast Pacific. This includes the OOI Cabled, Endurance, and Station Papa Arrays. Early science successes from OOI will be highlighted, as well as Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and NOAA projects focused on furthering scientific understanding of coastal and offshore processes.
The workshop will inform the oceanographic research community of the science capabilities of the Cabled Array, Endurance Coastal Array and the Station Papa Array. An overview of the OOI science themes as they relate to these Arrays will be reviewed as well as a report from Ocean Networks Canada and NOAA. An overview of the Cyber Infrastructure (CI) applications, data products, user interfaces, and system features will also be provided along with hands-on demonstrations. The workshop program will include a discussion on how to include OOI and other observational data in both proposals and publications. OOI Program Team members and NSF representatives will be on hand to answer questions and provide information on OOI operations and governance.
This community workshop will provide a forum to facilitate science collaborations and identify strategies for engaging future users of OOI. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to provide feedback on their initial experiences in working with the OOI systems and data. There will be opportunities for discussions about possible future additions of sensors and national-international partnerships.
The Workshop will be held at the University Place Hotel and Conference Center in Portland, OR on September 27-29, 2016.
(Cross posted from Maritime Professional / Joseph R. Fonseca)
[feature]The application deadline for in-person participation at the workshop has passed and we cannot accommodate additions at this time. However, you are welcome to participate in the workshop virtually via web conference. To register for web conference participation,
please complete this very brief on-line form.
[/feature] Read More
Cabled Array Webinar Friday 6/24, Staff Consultations 7/6
Cabled Array Webinar
Date: Friday, June 24th
Time: 1:00pm Eastern/10:00am Pacific
Cabled Array staff will provide an overview of the Cabled Array infrastructure currently deployed as well as engineering specifics including connectors, communication capabilities, testing procedures, and general timeline. The goal of the webinar is to provide researchers interested in adding instrumentation-infrastructure onto the Cabled Array the information required to submit an NSF proposal, which includes a letter from the Cabled Array team on technical feasibility.
[button link="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Swd4NOgM1yF2EBxoEY-k4P-nRmBvWvejSrJbXe3_AZo/viewform?c=0&w=1"]Register for this Webinar[/button]Please Register by Thursday 6/23 12:00pm PT.
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[feature]
Cabled Array One-on-One Meetings
Date:Wednesday, July 6th
OOI Operations Staff are available to meet with potential investigators who wish to submit proposals to deploy instruments on the OOI Cabled Array. Investigators can schedule an appointment to meet virtually with OOI Operations Staff to discuss technical requirements, testing, and answer any other questions researchers might have regarding adding instrumentation to the OOI arrays.
To sign up, please contact the HelpDesk with times you are available.
For more information, check out the Staff Consultations page.
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Read MoreWorld Oceans Day: Bring the seas into your home; exploration is one click away
When the HMS Challenger set sail in 1872, researchers made discoveries that laid the foundation of the science of oceanography. These early scientists couldn’t have imagined that more than a century later, the secrets of the sea could be discovered by almost anyone, even those thousands of miles from the coastline.
Today with the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), the ocean is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to anyone with an Internet connection.
“The OOI is placing as much ocean data online as possible and making it available in real-time,” says Roger Wakimoto, NSF Assistant Director for Geosciences. “In addition to scientific discovery, we hope to spark the public’s interest in the sea and contribute to the safety of those who make their living on the water or vacation along the coast.”
Permanent scientific presence
The OOI is a permanent scientific presence in the ocean. It consists of 83 platforms with more than 830 instruments providing more than 100,000 scientific and engineering data products. These platforms and instruments are spread across seven arrays located in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The OOI Data Portal opened its doors for the first time in early January to allow users -scientists, educators, and the public – to freely access OOI data. Over the past five months, the quantity of data available and tools for downloading and plotting data have steadily increased, and the OOI continues to expand its data availability.
“Much like the Challenger crew, the OOI is employing new technology that we hope will revolutionize our understanding of the ocean,” says Greg Ulses, the OOI Director at the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, which manages the OOI Program for NSF. “We are doing that by focusing on our online data delivery. We live in a time of constant Internet connection – your computer, your tablet, your phone – so we’re giving people access to the ocean by meeting them where they are, online.”
Data from the OOI will foster scientific advancements by helping researchers gain a better understanding of earthquakes and shifts in tectonic plates; hydrothermal vent and methane seep species; climate and weather phenomena such as El Niño; ocean acidification; the upwelling that fuels productive coastal fisheries; and the links between ocean circulation and climate.
Benefits to public
Scientists aren’t the only ones benefitting from the OOI. A suite of online tools, including data visualization exercises and lesson plans, allows educators to engage students in scientific inquiry on oceanographic concepts. In addition, commercial or recreational fishers may monitor offshore conditions by checking data from nearby buoys.
Anyone with an Internet connection can download and view plots of OOI data from all arrays, or watch a live-streaming, high-definition video from a hydrothermal vent 250 miles off the coast of Oregon.
Tales of krakens, whirlpools, and passages to foreign lands have long united people and kindled interest in the mysterious forces of the sea. This year on World Oceans Day and beyond, celebrate by connecting with the ocean live – without even getting wet.
More about the OOI
The OOI is a network of platforms and sensors that track the oceans’ physical, chemical, geological, and biological properties from the seafloor to the sea surface. The OOI consists of seven arrays located across the North and South Atlantic and Pacific, including one cabled, two coastal, and four global arrays. Using undersea robotics, moorings, fiber-optic cables, and specialized instrumentation, the OOI links technology and advanced engineering capabilities to an intricate cyberinfrastructure, bringing ocean observing data to shore. In the decades ahead, oceanographers, educators, and the public will use the observatory and its components to conduct research and interact with the ocean in a way never before possible.
Funding for the Ocean Observatories Initiative is provided by the National Science Foundation through a Cooperative Agreement with the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. The Consortium for Ocean Leadership has overseen the construction and initial operations of the OOI through meaningful partnerships with WHOI, OSU, UW, and Rutgers. The OOI is an integrated infrastructure of science-driven platforms and sensor systems that measure physical, chemical, geological, and biological properties and processes from the seafloor to the sea surface. OOI data are made available free of charge to the user communities of oceanographers, scientists, educators, and to the public; some data are provided in near-real time.
For more information on the OOI please visit the OOI Website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About NSF
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2016, its budget is $7.5 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 48,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $626 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Cross-posted from NSF Press Release 16-062.
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas
National Science Foundation
(703) 292-7734
cdybas@nsf.gov
Leslie Smith
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
(202) 787-1613
lsmith@oceanleadership.org
Welcome Aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong
Welcome the newest member of the nation’s research vessel fleet, the R/V Neil Armstrong! Christened after the legendary explorer Neil Armstrong, the new ship will seek to follow his legacy of exploration and scientific discovery. Capable of ranging up to 11,500 nautical miles, the Neil Armstrong is 238 feet long, is equipped with two full-sized labs, and can support up to 44 scientists and crew.
The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is excited to be amongst the first to use this vessel as the R/V Armstrong recovered two OOI Moorings during its “Science Verification III (SVC III)” Cruise from Virginia to Woods Hole, MA. These moorings were the Coastal Pioneer Array Central Surface Mooring and Upstream Inshore Profiler Mooring located on the continental shelf south of Martha’s Vineyard.
Home-ported at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Armstrong will be enlisted for future Pioneer Array maintenance cruises, as well as cruises to the Global Irminger Sea Array southeast of Greenland.
The Coastal Pioneer and Global Irminger Sea Arrays are the OOI’s two arrays in the North Atlantic. The Coastal Pioneer Array is one of two coastal arrays and is located along the continental shelf-break front off the coast of New England. The Pioneer Array’s oceanographic and meteorological observations from the highly productive region along the continental shelf-break off the coast of New England. This array allows scientists and educators to examine several important coastal processes, including shelf break fronts, frontal upwelling, and the role of filaments and eddies in cross-shelf exchange of parameters such as nutrients, heat, and biomass.
The Global Irminger Sea Array is one of four global sites in the OOI focusing on the critical, yet under-sampled, high-latitude regions of the Pacific and Atlantic. It includes a network of moorings that will support sensors for measurement of air-sea fluxes of heat, moisture and momentum; physical, biological and chemical properties throughout the water column.
The OOI, a project funded by the National Science Foundation, is an integrated infrastructure of science-driven platforms and sensor systems that measure physical, chemical, geological, and biological properties and processes from the seafloor to the sea surface. It was designed to provide data to address scientific challenges such as climate and ecosystem health.
Please continue to visit the OOI Website for the latest news on the program, sign up for our Mailing List, or submit comments or question through the HelpDesk.
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