Posts Tagged ‘CGSN’
Irminger Sea Carbon Cycle
The high-latitude North Atlantic, a region with high phytoplankton production in the spring and deep convection in the winter, is of particular importance for the global carbon cycle. The vertical transport of carbon from near the surface into the deep ocean, by combination of biological and physical processes, is known as the biological carbon pump. The carbon pump is particularly active in the Irminger Sea, yet the carbon budget, and its seasonal and interannual variability, are poorly known. A study by Yoder et al. (2024) used carbon system data from multiple observational assets (moorings and CTD casts) of the OOI Irminger Sea Array to assess net community production in the mixed layer and the implications for the biological pump in this region.
Data analysis was challenging, because it involved working with multiple instrument types, gappy records, calibration offsets, and other idiosyncrasies. In addition, data from multiple instruments and observing platforms needed to be combined to produce continuous records. The primary sensors utilized were pH and pCO2. These are difficult sensors to work with, to the extent that a community workshop was convened to develop a “users guide” to best practices for analysis (Palevsky et al., 2023). Yoder et al. were able to quality control, cross-calibrate, and merge data from the OOI surface mooring, flanking moorings, gliders and shipboard CTD casts (Fogaren and Palevsky 2023; Palevsky et al. 2023) to create the first multi‐year time series of the inorganic carbon system for the Irminger Sea mixed layer. This remarkable data set, based on instruments with sample rates of 1-2 hours, provides a seven-year record with near-daily resolution (Figure 28).
The time series results (Figure 3) showed that carbon system variables (dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2)) co-vary through the annual cycle, with minimums in late summer at the end of the productive season and maximums in winter. The summer draw-down of pCO2 indicates that biophysical effects, rather than temperature, are the primary drivers of pCO2 variability. The influence of vertical mixing and primary productivity can be clearly seen in DIC and TA. In the subpolar North Atlantic, shoaling of the mixed layer in spring is generally associated with spring phytoplankton blooms, as indicated by increasing chlorophyll (Chl) concentration. Interestingly, it is found that highest integrated rates of DIC removal from the mixed layer via photosynthesis take place prior to mixed layer shoaling.
After a thorough analysis that included mixed layer budgets of DIC and TA, followed by assessment of gas exchange, physical transport, and the hydrologic cycle, the authors conclude that strong biological drawdown is the primary removal mechanism of inorganic carbon from the mixed layer. Furthermore, they point out the importance of interannual variability in both the drivers of and resulting magnitude of surface carbon cycling. This is primarily due to variability in net community production. Acknowledging the challenges taken on by OOI to maintain an array in the Irminger Sea, the authors note that “collecting observational data is both costly and challenging, however if only 1 year of data is collected or multiple years are averaged together, [carbon system dynamics] … will be misrepresented.”
This project shows the potential for OOI data, with appropriate processing and analysis, to provide unique insights into the ocean carbon system. It is notable that the authors made a substantial effort to calibrate and combine data from multiple instruments and moorings, and to take advantage of ancillary data (e.g. gliders, OOI CTD casts, and non-OOI CTD casts) in their processing. Enabling this type of analysis was a goal in the design of the multi-platform OOI Arrays and shipboard validation protocols.
[caption id="attachment_34983" align="alignnone" width="623"] Time series of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) temperature, chlorophyll-a (Chl), and mixed layer depth (MLD) in the Irminger Sea mixed layer from 2015-2022. Colors identify annual cycles. From Yoder et al., 2024.[/caption]
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References:
- Fogaren, K. E., Palevsky, H. I. (2023) Bottle-calibrated dissolved oxygen profiles from yearly turn-around cruises for the Ocean Observations Initiative (OOI) Irminger Sea Array 2014 – 2022. Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). Version Date 2023-07-19 doi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.904721.1
- Palevsky, H.I., S. Clayton and 23 co-authors, (2023).OOI Biogeochemical Sensor Data: Best Practices & User Guide Global Ocean Observing System, 1(1.1), 1–135. https://doi.org/10.25607/OBP-1865.2
- Palevsky, H. I., Fogaren, K. E., Nicholson, D. P., Yoder, M. (2023) Supplementary discrete sample measurements of dissolved oxygen, dissolved inorganic carbon, and total alkalinity from Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) cruises to the Irminger Sea Array 2018-2019. Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). Version Date 2023-07-19 doi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.904722.1
- Yoder, M. F., Palevsky, H. I., & Fogaren, K. E. (2024). Net community production and inorganic carbon cycling in the central Irminger Sea. J. Geophys. Res., 129, e2024JC021027. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JC021027
Summer Science Tours: CGSN Engages Young Environmentalists
The U.S National Science Foundation (NSF) OOI Coastal and Global Scale Nodes (CGSN) Team at WHOI has had a busy summer of talks and tours. With the help of Mashpee Wampanoag WHOI Tribal Liaison and Native Land Conservancy (NLC) founding board officer, Leslie Jonas, CGSN hosted two notable sets of visitors in July and August 2024. The NLC is an Indigenous-led land conservation nonprofit based on Cape Cod that seeks to preserve land for future generations.
As a part of their Preserving Our Homelands (POH) summer science program, a group of students from the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe visited WHOI on 18 July. The POH program provides 6th, 7th, and 8th grade native students with hands-on science experiences in order to deepen their understanding of the environment from a western science perspective and its relationship to tribal culture, and traditional ecological knowledge. Their visit included a stop at the LOSOS facility, where CGSN team members talked about the scientific and technical aspects of the OOI program and provided an opportunity to see ocean observing technology up close. CGSN is grateful to WHOI engineer Ben Weiss and Sea Grant Marine Educator, Grace Simpkins, for organizing the visit and looks forward to ongoing interactions with the POH program.
Before the excitement from the POH tour had died down, a second group of visitors was hosted in early August. The group was made up of about 20 members of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) environmental science community. This included the NLC Executive Director, Diana Ruiz, and thirteen members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society and four NLC First Light Fellows. First Light is a paid summer fellowship program for rising Native American conservationists ages 18-25. With mentors from Mass Audubon, Fellows develop individual projects with topics in areas of ecological research, wetland restoration, water quality or land protection that build career skills and advance the NLC’s work. The fellowships combine indigenous culture, environmental sciences, and career development in order to open up career pathways. The four Indigenous Fellows who visited WHOI are studying at Brown, Yale, and Salish Kootenai College and got exposure to real-world instrumentation and engineering tools used to address pressing questions in ocean science research.
Read more about the NLC Fellows.
[caption id="attachment_34683" align="alignnone" width="640"] WHOI Senior Engineering Assistant Diana Wickman discusses the operation of an OOI ocean glider with Mashpee Wampanoag POH visitors. Photo credit J. Lund.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_34684" align="alignnone" width="640"]
The August group included Native Land Conservancy First Light Fellows and members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Photo credit: L. Jonas.[/caption]
Read More Deep-Ocean Vertical Structure
It is often assumed that, at frequencies below inertial, the vertical structure of horizontal velocity and vertical displacement can be reasonably described by a single dynamical mode, e.g. the lowest order flat-bottom baroclinic mode. This is appealing because it would mean that first-order predictions of deep-ocean velocity structure could be determined from knowledge of density and surface currents. However, there is a relative paucity of full ocean depth data to test this idea. A study by Toole et al. (2023) used full ocean depth data from five sites – four of which are Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) arrays (Station Papa, Irminger Sea, Argentine Basin and Southern Ocean) – to address the question “does subinertial ocean variability have a dominant vertical structure?”
Data analysis was challenging, because it involved working with gappy records as well as combining information from multiple instruments on different moorings. As noted by the authors, “no single OOI mooring sampled velocity, temperature and salinity over full depth.” Wire-following profiler data from Hybrid Profiler Moorings were combined with ADCP and fixed-depth CTD data from adjacent moorings. While the authors note that “depth-time contour plots of the velocity data from each OOI site clearly reveal the shortcomings of the datasets” they also recognized that despite the shortcomings, “these observations constitute some of the only full-depth observations of horizontal velocity and vertical displacement from the open ocean.”
It was possible to obtain 2-3 years (non-contiguous in some cases) of near-full ocean depth data from each site. Inertial and tidal variability was removed, and the data were filtered over 100 hr (~4 days). Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) decomposition was used to identify an orthogonal basis set that described horizontal velocity and vertical displacement. In addition, dynamical modes were determined for three cases: flat bottom, sloping bottom and rough bottom. Note that computing the dynamical modes requires the vertical density profile, which was taken as the mean over each deployment. Analysis was focused on the lowest modes, which accounted for the majority of the variance.
The results (Figure 32) showed that there is an EOF consistent with a dynamical mode at most sites. However, the appropriate dynamical mode is different for each site – no single dynamical accounted for a dominant fraction of variability across all sites. The authors note that differences in bathymetry, stratification and local forcing complicate the picture, with different dynamical processes dominating at different sites. Prior studies (not full ocean depth) that appear to show a “universal” vertical structure may be misleading
This project shows the potential for OOI data, with appropriate processing and analysis, to provide unique insights into ocean structure and dynamics. The researchers have made the combined vertical profile data available to the community on the Woods Hole Open Access Server. The dataset DOI (https://doi.org/10.26025/1912/66426) is also linked here: https://oceanobservatories.org/community-data-tools/community-datasets/.
[caption id="attachment_34586" align="alignnone" width="624"] Mode 1 EOFs for velocity (u, red; v blue; cm/s) and vertical displacement (black, decameters) for OOI arrays at (from left) Argentine Basin, Southern Ocean, Station Papa and Irminger Sea. Adapted from Toole et al., 2023.[/caption]
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References:
Toole, J.M, R.C. Musgrave, E.C. Fine, J.M. Steinberg and R.A. Krishfield, 2023. On the Vertical Structure of Deep-Ocean Subinertial Variability, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 53(12), 2913-2932. DOI: 10.1175/JPO-D-23-0011.1.
Read MoreA Relationship Borne of OOI
OOI Engineer Jennifer Batryn had traveled to Punta Arenas, Chile in October 2016, to help mobilize for the third deployment and recovery cruise of the Global Argentine Basin Array. Punta Arenas is home to numerous street dogs, including a pack that slept in front of the hotel where the National Science Foundation Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) team was staying. On the way to begin work the first morning, Batryn stopped to pet several of the dogs and happily encouraged one to follow her to the warehouse facility where the team was working. He snuck through the port security entrance and joined Batryn and the team at the warehouse for the morning. When Batryn went into town for lunch, he followed and waited patiently outside of the restaurant. He then followed Batryn back to the warehouse for the afternoon and to the hotel at the end of the day. This pattern continued for the next week and a half while the team built and prepared the moorings.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_20161016_162823687-scaled.jpg" link="#"] OOI Instrument Lead Jennifer Batryn with her Punta Arenas Street dog, Teddy, outside the hotel in Chile. [/media-caption][media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_20161011_113630857-scaled.jpg" link="#"]Teddy relaxing (and waiting for pets) outside the warehouse in the Punta Arenas port facility.[/media-caption]
When it came time to start loading the R/V Nathaniel B Palmer, Batryn realized that this dog had weaseled its way into her heart and decided she wasn’t leaving Chile without him. (Editor’s note: After looking into Teddy’s eyes, it is easy to understand how this happened!). “Teddy had the sweetest and most laid-back personality. He loved getting belly rubs and pats but also was content napping on a piece of foam in the warehouse, completely unfazed by the forklift trucks and other commotion going on. He was also amazingly dirty from living on the streets and my hands would instantly get a black film on them after petting him, but there was no way I could say no to him, “said Batryn. She chose the name Teddy since he was like a big teddy bear and started looking into the many logistics necessary to bring him back home with her.
Batryn only had several days to figure everything out before boarding the ship for three weeks. Since there were no pet stores nearby, she walked to a large grocery store and purchased a collar, leash, and a large bag of dog food. She then found a local vet clinic through a web search and got the name and phone number of a local dogsitter from the port agent. With that information in hand, Batryn enlisted the help of a friendly hotel employee to make the necessary phone calls to schedule an appointment since her Spanish was limited. She lucked out and was able to arrange a vet appointment the next day and scheduled a taxi to pick her and Teddy up from the port and take them across town.
The next day was Teddy’s first day wearing a collar and leash. It took some getting used to as he watched the other street dogs running down the busy street chasing cars without being able to join in. It would be a day of many more firsts. When it came time for the taxi to pick Batryn and Teddy up from the port entrance, Teddy, who was used to chasing cars and not riding in one, wanted no part of getting inside the vehicle. The port security guard saw the struggle and kindly offered to help lift the nearly 60 lb. dog into the back of the taxi. During the stressful ride across town, Batryn tried to comfort Teddy. When they arrived at the vet office, the front desk assistant saw Batryn’s dirty hands and exclaimed, “Ahh, mecánica!” assuming the black film on her hands was due to work as a mechanic, and not the result of petting a dirty street dog.
Batryn had previously read that Chile is free of dog rabies and that rabies vaccines were not required from that origin, but she decided to play it safe to help ensure smooth entry into the United States. She had Teddy receive all the basic shots necessary for travel, as well as a rabies shot and a certificate from the vet that Teddy was cleared for travel. Since it would be mid-November by the time they flew back to New England together, Batryn also got a signed notice that Teddy was acclimated to cold temperatures, having lived outside on the streets of Punta Arenas. This would increase the chances that the airlines would allow Teddy to travel if air temperatures happened to dip on their planned travel day. Teddy then had to endure a second cab ride to the dog sitters where he would live for the next several weeks while Batryn was at sea.
The logistics of bringing Teddy back home continued for Batryn during her three weeks at sea. In her down time between mooring operations, she used the limited ship Wi-Fi to call family and friends back home. She coordinated with her mother in California to purchase a dog kennel suitable for airline travel and asked a friend who was flying down to join her for hiking afterwards to take the giant kennel as a second piece of checked luggage. Batryn also enlisted the help of an Argentinian guest student onboard the Palmer to help call the dog sitter back in Punta Arenas to have her measure Teddy for properly sizing a kennel. The sitter also offered to give Teddy a much-needed bath before his travel to the US. The sitter later described this process to Batryn in a mix of Spanish and English as the dirtiest bath he’s ever given, with the water coming off Teddy looking “like coffee”.
Air travel is not permitted for the first four weeks after receiving a rabies vaccine, but Batryn’s time at sea combined with her week of hiking with her friend turned out to be perfect for the human-canine match. After a successful cruise and hike, Batryn reunited with her dog, but there was a small hitch. The dog kennel that her friend brought down was borderline too small for Teddy and had the potential to be rejected based on the airline guidelines. Not to be deterred, Batryn called upon the good graces of her dog sitter who traded the new kennel for an older, larger one that would allow Teddy to be more comfortable during his nearly 24-hour journey to Boston.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/DSC_3365-scaled.jpg" link="#"]Jennifer’s layover in Santiago was long enough to allow for picking up Teddy from the separate cargo area and a nice pit stop for him outside before the next big flight.[/media-caption]The big travel day went relatively smoothly. Due to the size of the new, larger kennel, Teddy had to fly with cargo on the first leg of the journey from Punta Arenas up to Santiago. That meant that Batryn had to exit the airport in Santiago to claim Teddy from a separate cargo area. Fortunately, a friendly cab driver outside the airport offered to walk with Batryn down the street to the cargo section. The next leg of the journey took Batryn and Teddy from Santiago, Chile, up to Miami, Florida. When claiming luggage to clear US customs, the large kennel again proved difficult as it was too large to fit on a standard luggage cart. Fortunately, a helpful airport employee helped load Teddy in his crate onto a larger airport cart and escorted them through customs. Much to Batryn’s surprise, they breezed through customs, despite bringing in a live animal from another country. The new team caught their final flight up to Boston and soon enough Batryn and Teddy were in Massachusetts on their way home to Cape Cod.
Once home, Teddy quickly settled into the idea of a more pampered life with comfortable beds, couches, regular meals, walks to the beach, and lots of attention. While he had to work through some initial separation anxiety, Teddy started coming into the LOSOS facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution after just a couple days of being in the US. Ever since, Teddy has become a gentle fixture at LOSOS, getting pets from everyone who passes by, and spreading Chilean hospitality and good cheer every day.
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Two OOI Expeditions in Two Oceans
11th Recovery and Deployment of Global Station Papa and Irminger Sea Arrays
Two OOI Global Scale and Nodes (CGSN) teams are working simultaneously, but in different waters on opposite sides of the United States during June. The first CGSN team left Seward, Alaska aboard the R/V Sikuliaq on May 29 for a 17-day expedition to recover and re-deploy the Global Station Papa Array in the Gulf of Alaska. On June 2, a second CGSN team will depart from Woods Hole, MA to travel to the Irminger Sea Array aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong for a month-long expedition to recover and re-deploy this array.
The expeditions share similarities and differences. Both arrays are in remote locations. The Station Papa team has a 2.5-day transit to the array site in the Gulf of Alaska, while the Irminger Sea team has a longer transit of eight days to the array site. Once onsite, the teams will get to work quickly to deploy the replacement moorings to allow for overlapping measurements before recovering the moorings currently in place. This is the 11th time that each array has been turned – that is, existing ocean observing equipment at the sites will be recovered and replacement equipment will be deployed in their place. Such “turns” are needed to address biofouling of sensors, depletion of batteries, and wear and tear on equipment that has been battered by wind, waves, and weather for a year.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Biofouling.jpg" link="#"]This is what one year in the ocean looks like: a Global Station Papa flanking mooring 64” sphere with 12 months of marine growth. Marine growth can inhibit the operation of the mooring and instruments and is one of the reasons we need to recover and refurbish the OOI infrastructure on a regular basis. Credit: Rebecca Travis © WHOI.[/media-caption]The Global Station Papa Array is located in the Gulf of Alaska, about 620 nautical miles offshore in a critical region of the northeast Pacific with a productive fishery subject to ocean acidification, low eddy variability, and impacted by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. The Global Irminger Sea Array in the North Atlantic is located in a region with high wind and large surface waves, strong atmosphere-ocean exchanges of energy and gases, carbon dioxide sequestration, high biological productivity, and an important fishery. It is one of the few places on Earth with deep-water formation that feeds the large-scale thermohaline circulation.
“Because of their remote locations, both Station Papa and the Irminger arrays provide critical ocean data that scientists are using to better understand ocean circulation patterns and help identify changes in ocean conditions,” said Sheri N. White, Chief Scientist for the Irminger 11 expedition. “These arrays are hard to get to and to maintain but the data they provide are invaluable.”
Expedition Activities
A team of 11 scientists and engineers aboard the R/V Sikuliaq departed from Seward on May 29 for a 17-day expedition. During their time at sea, they will recover and deploy three OOI subsurface moorings and two open ocean gliders. They also will recover and deploy a Waverider mooring for the University of Washington. A POGO Fellowship awardee will be onboard to gain shipboard experience as part of OOI’s collaborative efforts to provide early career scientists opportunities to help increase their knowledge and advance careers. Other onboard activities will include water sampling at the deployment sites and collection of shipboard underway data.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Irminger-gliders.jpeg" link="#"]The OOI CGSN science team will start operations at the Irminger Array by deploying two gliders. This allows the gliders to be monitored by the pilots onshore and ensure all systems are operational while the vessel is still onsite performing mooring operations. These gliders will operate autonomously at Irminger for ~12 months. Credit: John Lund © WHOI.[/media-caption]On the east coast, a second team of 15 scientists and engineers aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong will leave Woods Hole, Massachusetts on June 2 to begin their eight-day transit to the Irminger Sea. Once onsite, the team will recover and deploy four OOI moorings, deploy two gliders, recover a third, and conduct water sampling at the deployment sites. Underway shipboard data will also be collected throughout the voyage. Four additional subsurface moorings will be “turned” for the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Project (OSNAP). Water and biogeochemical sampling will be conducted in support of both OSNAP and researchers from Boston College. A marine mammal observer from NOAA will be onboard as a continuing collaboration between NOAA and OOI.
Added White, “When planning these expeditions, we do our best to maximize use of ship time by providing berths to researchers who could benefit from direct observation and data collection in these remote locations. During the expedition to Irminger, for example, we will be joined by a graduate student and two undergraduate students from Boston College who will collect biogeochemical data, and experience what it is like to do science at sea.”
A bird’s eye view of a previous Irminger Sea Array expedition:
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF6Zhmlmd0A[/embed]Daily reports will be filed from both expeditions. Bookmark this site to follow along.
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OOI Data Sonification
The assumption that quantitative data can be well represented not only in charts and graphs, but by increasingly sophisticated visual displays, is often taken for granted. However, researchers, instructors, and curators of museums and science centers also recognize that even the most sophisticated visual displays are inaccessible to those with low-vision or blindness. There is also the potential for alternative data presentation methods to improve understanding of complex data for sighted individuals. With these considerations in mind, a team led by Dr. Bower (WHOI) has pursued the creation of auditory displays or “data sonifications” using multi-disciplinary U.S. National Science Foundation Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) data sets as the basis. The results to date from the NSF-funded data sonification project are reported in a recent publication by Smith et al. (2024).
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Data-Sonification-figure.png" link="#"]Figure 1. Time series data from two data nuggets created by Ocean Data Labs that were used for sonification. Surface meteorology during the passage of hurricane Hermine over the Pioneer Array in 2016 (upper). The CO2 flux between ocean and atmosphere for both Pioneer (open circles) and Endurance Arrays during 2017 (lower).[/media-caption]Data sonification involves the mapping of quantitative data from its original form to audio signals in order to communicate complex information content. The project team was interested in using actual ocean data spanning a variety of oceanographic disciplines. Time series data produced by OOI sensors provide an excellent starting point. In particular, the Ocean Data Labs group at Rutgers has reviewed OOI data and created a set of “data nuggets” that are appropriate for sonification (Greengrove et al., 2020). The data nuggets comprise a broad range of oceanographic phenomena observed by OOI sensors, including response to a storm, the diurnal migration of zooplankton, a volcanic eruption, and the flux of CO2 between ocean and atmosphere.
The project team used a rigorous approach to developing and refining the auditory presentations. Starting with a set of learning objectives for each data nugget, a multi-step process was used to create the sonification. First, oceanographers were interviewed to establish the important points to be conveyed for a given data nugget. Next, classroom instructors were interviewed to get feedback on the most effective approaches to using sound to explain data properties. A sound designer then created an initial mapping of the data to sound, which was reviewed by a representative group of researchers, instructors, and blind and visually impaired listeners. After additional rounds of refinement and feedback, the prototype sonifications are now available. Two auditory displays utilizing Pioneer Array data (Fig. 1) are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8162769 and https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8173880 for CO2 flux and storm response, respectively. Other examples can be found in Smith et al. (2024). The sonifications will be evaluated broadly using an on-line survey and by a “live audience” at museums and science centers.
This project is unique in exploiting the rich OOI data set and making ocean science highlights available to a broad community of students and the general public. A significant aspect of the work, as pointed out by the authors, is the systematic and inclusive approach used to develop the data sonifications. Results of the museum testing phase in 2024 will be awaited with great anticipation.
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References:
Greengrove, C., S. Lichtenwalner, H.I. Palevsky, A. Pfeiffer-Herbert, S. Severmann, D. Soule, S. Murphy, L.M. Smith and K. Yarincik, 2020. Using authenticated data from NSF’s Ocean Observatories Initiative in undergraduate teaching, Oceanography, 33(1), 62-73.
Smith, L.M., A. Bower, J. Roberts, J. Bellona and J. Li, 2024. Expanding access to ocean science through inclusively designed data sonifications, Oceanography, 36(4), 96-101.
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CGSN Events at OSM24
The Coastal and Global Scale Nodes (CGSN) group of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is excited to be sharing recent technical and data advances with the Ocean Science community at the 2024 Ocean Sciences Meeting in New Orleans, LA. With a talk and poster, CGSN is demonstrating how we are advancing our ocean observing capabilities by (1) repurposing engineering data to expand wave observations, and (2) utilizing automated data quality control algorithms in an efficient way to identify storm events. These presentations exhibit how we are advancing our mission of being a science-driven ocean observing network that delivers real-time data from more than 900 instruments to address critical science questions regarding the world’s oceans.
The first opportunity to see CGSN in action at OSM24 is the talkExpanding surface wave observations at the OOI Pioneer Array – New England Shelf using buoy motion sensors at 9:00 am on Monday, Feb. 19th, as part of the session “OT11A: Innovation in in Situ Sensors and Sensing Platforms to Measure the Ocean I”. The Pioneer Array – New England Shelf collected data across the New England Shelf break for nine years from November 2013 through November 2022. Of the three surface moorings deployed across the array, only the Central Surface Mooring was equipped with a wave sensor. Recognizing that data from a single location could be restrictive for some types of analysis, CGSN identified an opportunity to increase the number of surface wave observations and extend their geographic extent to the full cross-shelf span of the Pioneer Array – New England Shelf. This was accomplished by using the engineering data (acceleration, angular rate, and magnetic vectors) collected by the MicroStrain 3-axis motion sensors (MOPAK) deployed on all three surface moorings. The data collected by the MOPAKs can be used to compute the bulk and directional wave statistics at each Surface Mooring in the array.
The next opportunity to learn about advances in CGSN data quality is at the posterApplication of Automated Quality Control Flags to OOI Data: Identification of Storm Events at Coastal Pioneer Array from 4 – 6 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 20th as part of the session “OT24B: Enhancing Data Quality Control in Ocean Sciences: Challenges and Innovations”. Quality control flags for the meteorological bulk flux package of instruments (METBK) from the recently-implemented quality tests based on the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Quality Assurance / Quality Control of Real Time Oceanographic Data (QARTOD) standards may help data users identify and filter for events of interest that are hidden in OOI’s long-term records. The ability to flag interesting events is made more robust by the OOI Data Team’s efforts to complete data deep dives and add human-in-the-loop (HITL) annotations before the quality test thresholds are calculated. As a result of this process, the thresholds for barometric pressure recorded at the Pioneer Array – New England Shelf surface moorings are well-suited to identify storm events as unusually low pressure systems pass over the array.
These are two examples of ways that OOI is advancing the field of ocean observing and delivering science-ready data to the Ocean Sciences community.
Read MoreAUV Data Available in a Variety of Formats
We recently announced and demonstrated new access to autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) data through OOI’s Data Explorer. Since the initial announcement, more has been done to provide additional AUV data and improve data delivery. As part of OOI’s efforts towards Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data, not only are AUV data easier to find and access, we now are providing these data in more interoperable and reusable formats.
When you view an AUV Deployment in Data Explorer (FIG 1), data in different formats may be accessed either through the Metadata link in the left panel (FIG 1 A) or the Downloads button (FIG 1 B). The Downloads button provides access to data products, in formats including comma separated variable (CSV), that are derived from Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) files in the OOI Raw Data Repository. To access these NetCDF files, open the Metadata link, navigate into that deployment’s folder, and then into its PROFILES subfolder. Note that each deployment’s folder also contains raw data as collected by the vehicle and an EXPORTED subfolder for data products in Matlab format.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/AUV_OOI_newsletter_Fig1_portrait.png" link="#"]Fig. 1 AUV Deployment in Data Explorer. Inset A: Metadata link to Raw Data Repository to access NetCDF format per deployment in PROFILES subfolder. Inset B: Downloads button provides data products in multiple formats. Credits: Screen grab from Data Explorer (https://dataexplorer.oceanobservatories.org/#platform/c646022c-ce04-5be8-8cd8-117da55121fa/v2?pid=14&tab=visualization) and Flaticon. Flaticon license: Free for personal and commercial use with attribution.[/media-caption]The software development effort by OOI’s Coastal & Global Scale Nodes (CGSN) Team to publish AUV data into Data Explorer involved OOI’s Cyberinfrastructure Team and Axiom Data Science. This effort builds on earlier work by OOI’s Coastal Endurance Array Team to publish glider data into the IOOS Glider DAC, and subsequently into OOI’s Data Explorer. The existing code base was integrated into a larger framework supporting the input of either glider or AUV data and supporting output formatting compatible with either or both the Glider DAC or Data Explorer.
CGSN maintains two AUV platforms, which are deployed from shipboard as part of at-sea operations in and around OOI mooring sites. The AUVs conduct ~24 hour transects, consisting of multiple profiles of the water column, before being retrieved by the ship for data collection and maintenance. CGSN AUV platforms are fitted out with a variety of instrumentation including CTD, fluorometer, and sensors for photosynthetically active radiation, dissolved oxygen, dissolved nitrate, and current measurement. When applicable, annotations are provided per deployment per instrument in OOI’s OOINet portal and M2M (Machine to Machine) interface; we plan to incorporate these annotations into NetCDF metadata and ultimately into Data Explorer.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_126519-2.jpg" link="#"]CGSN Team member Diana Wickman (2nd from left) explains how the AUV moves during a deployment, with CGSN Team members Collin Dobson (far left) and Stace Beaulieu (far right) and student researcher Taina Sanchez (2nd from right). Credit: D. Trew Crist © WHOI.[/media-caption]
The Data Explorer provides access to all across-shelf and along-shelf AUV deployments at the Coastal Pioneer NES Array from 2016 to 2022.Future AUV transect data at the Coastal Pioneer MAB Array will also be published through Data Explorer as the data become available. As an example for reusability of these data in newly-available formats, a student examined across-shelf patterns in salinity, chlorophyll, and nitrate as part of Northeast U.S. Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research.
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Biofouling Mitigation from Top to Bottom
OOI operates its arrays in challenging environments. At the sea surface, sea lions find the buoys attractive resting spots. At the bottom, instruments must collect data under varying temperatures at intense pressures. And, then throughout the water column’s photic zone is marine growth. Marine life finds OOI’s instrumentation and arrays irresistible, where it attaches and grows like gangbusters.
The folks who keep OOI’s arrays operational explain the conditions this way:
“Putting any kind of instrumentation – electrical or scientific instrumentation – in the water for a year or more at a time is always a challenge, said Dana Manalang, Engineer, OOI Regional Cabled Array (RCA). “It’s a harsh environment due to the high pressures and salt water so getting systems to operate sub-seas is the largest challenge we face.”
“It’s a challenging place to work,” concluded Coastal Endurance Array Project Manager Jonathan Fram, “And, we are very thankful to have the opportunity to make stuff that can survive in just about any marine environment.”
So how do they do it? OOI engineers develop creative ways to tackle the many challenges, particularly in terms of some of the peskier, persistent ones like keeping marine growth, referred hereafter as biofouling, at bay.
Diaper cream as a solution
Coastal and Global Scale Node (CGSN), Coastal Endurance, and RCA team members have implemented novel ways to minimize and in-situ clean marine growth on sensors, gliders, and components of the arrays that spend up to 12 months in the water.
One such novelty is the application of diaper cream. An inexpensive and convenient form of zinc oxide, diaper cream, has been used for decades as a marine anti-foulant, with moderate effectiveness. . “Its application for oceanographic equipment goes back at least to the 1990’s, and is considered non-toxic relative to other concoctions, “ explained Peter Brickley, CGSN Observatory Operations Lead. Other anti-fouling scheme exist, but some are expensive, some add weight, while others take too long to apply and don’t fit into the team’s operational deployment plans.
“The only downside is that diaper cream has be to done onboard right before deployment, or it’s a mess,” he added.
Coastal Endurance Project Manager Jonathan Fram said, “One key issue is that gliders are made of aluminum, so we can’t use copper-based antifouling material on them. Diaper cream is zinc-based, so it won’t corrode gliders’ aluminum.” The Coastal Endurance Team regularly applies diaper cream to its glider fleet, with measurable success. “Gliders with barnacles on them can’t swim straight or efficiently. The diaper cream provides a protective coating to which marine growth cannot readily adhere. It helps keep our gliders moving easily through the water and reporting data.”
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Diaper-cream-117.jpg" link="#"]Coastal Endurance team members Raelynn Heinitz and Alex Wick apply diaper cream before launch of a glider off the Oregon coast. The ointment prevents marine growth on gliders that traverse the shallow coastal waters near the Endurance Array’s Washington and Oregon-Newport lines. Marine organisms thrive in the shallow water where sunlight can penetrate, aiding marine growth. Credit: Kathy Hough, NOAA.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/without-diaper-cream.jpg" link="#"]Shown above is a recovered glider having spent three months in the upper coastal waters off the Washington coast. It would have been covered with marine life, imperiling its ability to maneuver, but the protective diaper cream kept most of them at bay. Credit: Kathy Hough, NOAA.[/media-caption]After being successfully tested on gliders, the Coastal Endurance Array and RCA teams then tried the protective diaper cream as an option to keeping acoustic transducers on the arrays clean, as suggested by the vendor. An acoustic transducer is an electrical device that vibrates, producing sound waves in water. OOI uses transducers in both echosounders and hydrophones. Here, too, the diaper cream proved to be an inexpensive and effective biofouling mitigation measure.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/acoustic-transducer.jpg" link="#"]An acoustic transducer covered with diaper cream to prevent biofouling during its six-months in the water. Credit: Kathy Hough, NOAA.[/media-caption]Addition of UV lights
Putting ultraviolet lights in the water to discourage marine growth is another proven biofouling mitigation measure. Early on, the Coastal Endurance team deployed two oxygen optodes, which measure dissolved oxygen, side-by-side at seven meters depth on the Oregon Shelf Surface Mooring with a UV light pointed at one of them. Data from the two sensors tracked each other for six weeks after which the unprotected sensor fouled. Within weeks, there were daily afternoon spikes of up to twice the oxygen level of the protected sensor, with slightly lower measurements than the unprotected sensor at night due to respiration of the biofilm. Since this test, optodes are regularly deployed with UV lights to aid their operation. (Annotations of OOI moored oxygen data note when a UV light was not operating with it.)
Following the success of the UV-light on dissolved oxygen sensors, the CGSN team tested this antifouling measure on a moored Coastal Pioneer Array spectral irradiance (SPKIR) sensor, which measures the amount of light energy that reaches a surface. The testing was conducted with Sea Bird Scientific, the SPKIR vendor. The vendor confirmed that the UV light did not damage the instrument’s optics nor did it interfere with its light measurements. After this confirmation and positive result, UV lights are now used on all SPKIR sensors on Surface Moorings, Coastal Surface Piercing Profilers, and uncabled digital still cameras moored at less than 70 meters. The teams adjust the on/off cycle of the UV lights so that biofouling is prevented without damaging the sensors, interfering with measurements, or using too much power.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-11-27-at-6.02.17-PM.jpeg" link="#"]Sea Bird Scientific’s spectral irradiance sensor needs to be clean to effectively measure light energy in the water column. Shining UV lights on these sensors helps to minimize biofouling and clouding of the sensor.Credit: Sea Bird Scientific.[/media-caption]Lens-Cleaning Brushes
The RCA also has adopted novel ways to deal with biofouling on the Pacific Ocean seafloor. RCA operates and maintains a high-definition (HD) video camera (CAMHD) at the base of an actively venting hydrothermal chimney called “Mushroom” (see below) in the ASHES vent field of Axial Seamount Caldera. Live HD video of this > 4-m high chimney and surrounding seafloor is streamed to shore on an automated schedule for 14 minutes at 3-hour intervals, with longer non-stop monitoring for 24 hours twice a month and 72 hours at the beginning of each month.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Figure-a.jpg" link="#"]RCA’s high-definition video camera installed next to “Mushroom” hydrothermal chimney in the ASHES vent field of Axial Caldera. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; J2-1534, V23.[/media-caption]The scene is fully scanned with programmable pan, tilt, and zoom functions of this instrument, which provides detailed imagery of the high-temperature water spigots, sea spiders, lipets tube worms and other biota covering both the chimney and surrounding lava-covered seafloor.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Figure-b.jpg" link="#"]Close-up of the RCA HD video camera at the base of “Mushroom” hydrothermal chimney. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; J2-1534, V23.[/media-caption]Unfortunately, such live subjects, microorganisms, and other organic/inorganic processes often deposit a film on the camera lens which interferes with visualization. To ensure optimal clarity of HD video between site maintenance visits during annual RCA operation and maintenance expeditions, an automated lens cleaning protocol using a simple brush, installed on the instrument’s frame in the front of the lens has been instituted.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Figure-c-.png" link="#"]Lens-cleaning brush, indicated by red arrow, installed in front of RCA’s HD video camera and used during an automated cleaning protocol. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; J2-1534, V23..[/media-caption]This programmed event occurs three times a month and tilts the camera down and pans it left and right, allowing the brush to gently clean the lens. The video streaming and lens cleaning schedules can be optimized remotely from shore by RCA personnel to provide the highest scientific and educational value from the HD video.
Eco Anti-fouling paint
Ever wonder why OOI’s buoys are painted blue? This eco-friendly paint serves the same purpose as diaper cream and UV lights—to minimize marine growth on the buoys and its metal components. The teams use a commercially available water-based and copper-free anti-fouling paint. Once recovered, the CGSN and Coastal Endurance Array components are taken apart and refurbished so they function like new once ready to be redeployed. All metal components and float areas are cleaned and receive a fresh coat of paint in the hope of diminishing their attractiveness to life below the surface.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/predeployment.png" link="#"]Pre-deployment: The Coastal Pioneer buoys assembled, painted and ready for deployment for six months in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. Credit: Derek Buffitt © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Biofouled-mooring-in-air-2023-03-17-13-33-17-2.jpg" link="#"]After six months in the northeast Pacific, the Coastal Endurance Surface mooring buoy had become a rich habitat for marine life. Credit: Kim Kenney, OSU.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Pink-sea-urchins.jpg" link="#"]Biofouling can be beautiful, as demonstrated here as the ROV Jason prepares to recover the RCA Shallow Profiler during its annual operations and maintenance expedition. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI; J2-1516: v23.[/media-caption]
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Spreading Curiosity about Ocean Science with Summer Visitors
Summertime brings students from all over the country to Woods Hole, Massachusetts to learn about ocean science. June and July 2023 were particularly busy, with the Coastal and Global Scale Nodes (CGSN) division of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) hosting four different student groups. CGSN offers student tours of OOI facilities and the chance to talk directly with an ocean scientist or engineer. They engage with students this way in the hope of increasing student interest in marine science and possibly encouraging them to pursue an ocean-related career. During the tours and presentations, students learn about the moorings and vehicles OOI deploys throughout the year and the dissemination of ocean data collected. These hands-on experiences give student visitors the opportunity to see the full scale and complexity of OOI operations.
UMass-Dartmouth REU Students Visit
On June 26, 12 community college engineering student and faculty from a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (UMass-Dartmouth) visited OOI. CGSN staff provided a tour of their operations, including ocean-observing equipment stored outdoors because of its size.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Sheri-with-REUs.jpg" link="#"]CGSN team members, Dr. Sheri White (blue jeans to right) and Irene Duran (next to Dr. White) gave a tour to UMass-Dartmouth REU students. Photo by: Kama Theiler © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Colin-Dobson-with-REU.jpg" link="#"]A UMass-Dartmouth REU student asks CGSN glider expert Colin Dobson a question regarding the gliders he works on. Photo by: Kama Theiler © WHOI.[/media-caption]PEP Students Visit
In early July, the CGSN team gave a presentation to Woods Hole Partnership Education Program (PEP) participants, who spend 10-weeks in Woods Hole at WHOI, the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woodwell Climate Research Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Sea Education Association, or the United States Geological Survey’s Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center. The PEP program is designed primarily for college juniors and seniors from underrepresented groups in marine and ocean sciences who want to spend a summer gaining practical experience in marine and environmental science.
Summer 2023 is the 15th summer of the PEP program in Woods Hole. Many former PEP students have returned to Woods Hole and WHOI both as students and professionals (including CGSN’s Irene Duran). Benjamin Harden, PEP professor, stated that OOI’s community outreach is a “great way for these students to hear about the frontiers of oceanography and really helped many of them frame possible careers in the field.”
Black Girls Dive Foundation Visit
July 25th, CGSN’s Electrical Team provided a workshop to the Black Girls Dive Foundation (BGDF) program participants. BGDF provides the space and opportunity to empower young black women to explore their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) identity through marine science and conservation, and SCUBA diving. While visiting OOI, the BGDF students learned about pH and concerns about increasing ocean acidification. The students collected local sea water and with the help of the CGSN Instrument Team determined its pH with a probe they calibrated using a microcontroller.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/BGDF-with-AUV.jpg" link="#"]During their visit to WHOI, BGDF students had the opportunity to get up close to check out an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Photo by: Jayne Doucette © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Jennifer-with-BGDF.jpg" link="#"]CGSN Instrument Lead Jennifer Batryn (far left) shows how she checks OOI instruments operations on her laptop to one of the BGDF visitors. Photo by: Jayne Doucette © WHOI.[/media-caption]SEA Participants Visit
Also in late July a group of students participating in the Sea Education Association’s (SEA’s) High School program visited OOI’s Facility LOSOS on WHOI’s Quissett Campus. This is a study abroad program in Woods Hole for undergraduate, gap year, and high school students, that combines studies in ocean science with at-sea experiences. The students spent an afternoon learning about OOI, its operations, how data are collected and disbursed, and what scientists are learning from OOI data.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Dee-and-Jon-With-SEA-students-2.jpg" link="#"]CGSN team members Dee Emrich (standing left) and John Lund explained OOI operations to high school students from the Sea Education Program. Photo by: Dr. Sheri White © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Irene-with-SEA-students.jpg" link="#"]CGSN Engineer Irene Duran (maroon top in center) showed mooring components to high school students from the Sea Education Program. Photo by: Paul Whelan © WHOI.[/media-caption] Read More