Posts Tagged ‘Irminger 9’
Cadet Reports on First Voyage on a Research Vessel
Massachusetts Maritime Academy First-Class Cadet, Ella Strano, recently returned from two months aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong. Ella participated as a working crew member for the recovery and deployment of OOI’s Global Irminger Sea Array in July, followed by deployment of moorings and sampling equipment for the Overturning in Subpolar Arctic Project (OSNAP). She had a few days in shore in Reykjavik, Iceland, as the science parties and equipment were swapped out and onboard.
In a word, Ella described her experience as “Awesome!” and one that was a very different experience than that of her peers’ summer internships shipboard experiences. The majority of cadets at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy shipped out on cargo vessels and bulk carrier tugs for their first experiences of life at sea.
Being one of a few stationed on research vessels presented both opportunities and challenges.
“I definitely had to go with the flow,” she explained. “But l had the opportunity to learn not only from the crew, but from the scientists on board.” Ella’s minor is marine biology so she enjoyed the science aspects of the expedition, even though her responsibilities were primarily with helping to keep the ship operational so the science could be conducted.
Part of MA Maritime’s mission is to provide their students with hands-on at-sea experience so they understand the language and culture of shipboard life. In meeting the spirit of the experience, Ella did almost everything aboard the ship while she was a mate on the Armstrong. During the Irminger expedition, her duties were mostly on deck. She worked with the mooring team and observed how deployment and recovery operations could be conducted safely and successfully. Ella joked that she also did her fair share of cleaning the ship during her first month at sea.
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Working-Aframe-2-scaled.jpg" link="#"]Ella Strano operating the Aframe used to recover and deploy OOI moorings. [/media-caption]During her second stint for the OSNAP expedition, her duties turned more inward and included work in the engine room, on the bridge, and even helped maneuver the ship to stay on station—a critical task for any science operation at sea. She had her hand in everything on the ship, except for the galley, which was left to the professionals.
Ella also experienced a fair share of weather during her initial trip to the North Atlantic, but was pleased that in spite of some low-pressure and high wind days, the ship never had to abandon its mission to find shelter from the weather.
After two months at sea, Ella said it affirmed what she’s interested in doing after graduating next year. After disembarking from the Armstrong, she said, “I love this. It’s so cool that people get to go out to sea and be involved with science, but not necessarily specialize in one area of science.” She sees life aboard a research vessel as offering her the opportunity to be involved with many different science initiatives, learn what’s going on, and never get bored.
Ella said there seems to be an uptick of interest in working aboard science research vessels as she was one of seven of her classmates who sought such a placement, and only three succeeded. If this holds true that would be good news for research ships, which often have to compete for staff who have the potential to earn more working aboard commercial vessels.
Ella’s experience offered something of greater value to her. “There was a really good camaraderie between the science group and the officers,” she explained. “We were all working together and share experiences during mealtimes and cheese-30 every day”. (A spread of cheese and meats is provided every day at three o’clock aboard the Armstrong as a break and snack). “The crew really tried to make life pleasant aboard the ship, which was great because we were at sea for a long time.”
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ella-on-bridge.png" link="#"]Ella Strano on the bridge of the R/V Neil Armstrong. [/media-caption]If all goes as planned, Ella will graduate next year with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marine Transportation from MA Maritime and with an enlisted unlimited tonnage, third officer certificate from the U.S. Coast Guard. She hopes to find a place aboard the Armstrong or other science-related position, inspired by a full female bridge team, and science party comprised of 50 percent women, and led by a female chief scientist, all of whom showed her what is possible.
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Despite Weather, Irminger 9 Met Objectives
The R/V Neil Armstrong departed Woods Hole, Mass., on June 20. Under the direction of Chief Scientist Sheri N. White of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the 14-member science party headed to OOI’s Global Irminger Sea Array for the ninth time to recover and deploy moorings and gliders and carry out scientific sampling. Nearly a month later, the ship and science party pulled into the port of Reykjavik, Iceland, on July 16th, having accomplished all of its objectives.
“The Irminger Sea can be a challenging environment to work in. Storms with high winds and seas regularly move through the area, and these conditions can limit our mooring recovery and deployment operations,” said Chief Scientist Sheri N. White. “We were lucky to have relatively good weather conditions during our cruise, and adjusted our schedule when needed when storms passed through. Thanks to an excellent team – the ship’s crew and shipboard science technicians, the mooring operations team, and OOI and OSNAP teams – we able to accomplish all of our goals. My huge thanks to everyone on the ship and all of our shore-side support for all of their efforts.”
In addition to ten OOI personnel, the team was rounded out by three members from OSNAP (Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program) and a marine mammal observer from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For OOI, the team successfully recovered and deployed a Surface Mooring, Hybrid Profiler Mooring, and two Flanking Moorings, and deployed two new Irminger Sea gliders. For OSNAP, the team recovered and deployed four new moorings, replacing those originally deployed in the Summer 2020. The team also conducted CTD casts with salinity, oxygen, carbon, nutrient and chlorophyll water sampling. These sampling measurements are used for instrument validation and to further characterize the region of the moored array.
Why the Irminger Sea?
The Global Irminger Sea Array is off the southeast tip of Greenland, close to 39°W, 60°N. Data from this location are improving understanding of the impact of natural and climate variability in the region. The location experiences strong air-sea interaction and wintertime water mass formation that supports the global thermohaline (a.k.a. meridional overturning circulation – MOC). In recent years, a freshening of the water column has been observed.
The combination of the moored array and the gliders in the Irminger Sea enables investigation into the role of ocean processes at mesoscale and sub-mesoscale horizontal length scales through observations that sample the full water column, from the sea floor to the sea surface. The Surface Mooring provides a unique time-history of observations of surface meteorology and air-sea fluxes.
A Look at Life at Sea
The following and in the sidebar to the right is an assortment of activities onboard the Armstrong during the month of July. Other images and stories can be found here.
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Pete_bow.jpeg" link="#"]Whale sightings: Marine mammal observer Peter Duley spent many hours on deck looking for marine mammals. He observed Humpback, Beaked, Sei, and Fin whales, as well as orcas, harbor porpoise and common dolphins. Credit: Sheri N. White © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/pilot-whales_sm-2048x1365-1.jpeg" link="#"]Pod came to visit: A pod of pilot whales on a foggy day in the Irminger Sea. Credit: Peter Duley, NOAA.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Glider_DSC_0381.jpeg" link="#"]Glider missions: Gliders have two missions at the Irminger Sea Array. They travel around the triangular array to collect data (temperature, salinity, fluorescence and dissolved oxygen) in between the moorings. And, they pass the data from the subsurface mooring to shore. When they come to the surface, they send their data and the subsurface mooring data back to shore via satellite. Credit: Sawyer Newman©WHOI.[/media-caption] Read MoreMeasurements Below the Surface
Strong winds and large waves in remote ocean locations don’t deter the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) from collecting measurements in spite of such extreme conditions. By moving the moorings below the surface, the OOI is able to secure critically important observations at sites such as the Global Station Papa Array in the Gulf of Alaska, and the Global Irminger Sea Array, south of Greenland. These subsurface moorings avoid the wind and survive the waves, making it possible to collect data from remote ocean regions year-round, providing insights into these important hard-to-reach regions.
Instrumentation on the surface mooring in the Irminger Sea, however, has nowhere to hide and the measurements they provide are also often crucial for investigations, such as net heat flux estimates. Providing continuous information about wind and waves remains one of the most challenging aspects of OOI’s buoy deployments in the Irminger Sea. Fortunately, with each deployment, OOI is improving the survivability of the surface mooring so they continue to add to the valuable data collected in the region by their subsurface counterparts.
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FLMB-9_DSC_0934.jpg" link="#"]The top sphere of a Flanking Mooring being deployed through the R/V Neil Armstrong’s A-Frame. Credit: Sawyer Newman©WHOI.[/media-caption]Below the surface in the Irminger Sea
A team of 15 OOI scientists and engineers spent the month of July in the Irminger Sea aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong, recovering and deploying three subsurface moorings there, along with other array components. The Irminger Sea is one of the windiest places in the global ocean and one of few places on Earth with deep-water formation that feeds the large-scale thermohaline circulation. Taking measurements in this area is critical to better understanding changes occurring in the ocean.
OOI’s Irminger Sea Array also provides data to an international sampling effort called OSNAP (Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic) that runs across the Labrador Sea (south of Greenland), to the Irminger and Iceland Basins, to the Rockall Trough, west of Wales. The OOI subsurface Flanking Moorings form a part of the OSNAP cross-basin mooring line with additional instruments in the lower water column. During this current expedition, the Irminger Team will be recovering and deploying OSNAP instruments that are included as part of the OOI Flanking moorings, in addition to turning several OSNAP moorings as well.
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FLMB-9_DSC_0941.jpg" link="#"]The Flanking Mooring top float in the water during deployment. The sensors mounted in the sphere will measure conductivity, temperature, fluorescence, dissolved oxygen and pH at 30 m depth. Credit: Sawyer Newman©WHOI.[/media-caption]The triangular array of moorings in the Irminger Sea provide data that resolve horizontal variability, how much the physical aspects of the water (temperature, density, currents) and its chemical properties (salinity, pH, oxygen content) change over the distance between moorings. The individual moorings resolve vertical variability – the change in properties with depth. Three of these moorings are entirely underwater, with no buoy on the surface. They do have, however, multiple components that are buoyant to keep the moorings upright in the water column.
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FLMB-9_DSC_0984.jpg" link="#"]The mid-water sphere holds an ADCP instrument which will measure a profile of water currents from 500 m depth to the sea surface. Photo Credit: Sawyer Newman©WHOI.[/media-caption]Each subsurface mooring has a top sphere at 30 m depth, a mid-water sphere at 500 m depth, and back-up buoyancy at the bottom to ensure that the mooring can be recovered if any of the other buoyant components fail. Instruments are mounted to the mooring wire to make measurements throughout the water column.
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FLMB-9_IMG_5328.jpg" link="#"]Glass balls in protective “hard hats” provide extra flotation at the bottom of the mooring. Their tennis ball yellow color looks almost fluorescent in the brief (and much enjoyed) sunshine. Photo Credit: Sheri N. White©WHOI.[/media-caption] Read MoreMonth-long Expedition to Refresh Irminger Sea Array
In late June, a team of 15 scientists and engineers headed to the Irminger Sea, a region with high wind and large surface waves in the North Atlantic. This remote ocean region is one of the few places on Earth with deep-water formation that feeds the large-scale thermohaline circulation.
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_5251.jpg" link="#"]The R/V Neil Armstrong is loaded with Irminger Sea gear, ready to depart fo a month-long expedition to recover and deploy OOI’s Global Irminger Sea Array. Photo: Sheri N. White©WHOI.[/media-caption]
The Irminger Sea 9 expedition is taking place on the R/V Neil Armstrong, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). After an eight-day transit to the mooring array site off the tip of Greenland, the team will recover and deploy four moorings and three gliders over the next two and a half weeks. They will conduct CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) casts at the deployment/recovery sites and carry out shipboard sampling for field validation of the platforms and sensors that will remain in the water for the next year.
In addition to the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s (OOI) operations, a team from OSNAP (Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program) also will be onboard to recover and deploy four moorings, conduct CTD casts and water sampling at the mooring sites, and conduct additional instrument field validation tests to ensure the quality of the data collected. A participant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will also be on board using Big Eyes binoculars mounted on a forward deck to make observations of marine mammals during the transit and in the Irminger Sea.
[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/big_eyes.jpg" link="#"]Large, deck-mounted binoculars known as “big eyes” are used for marine mammal observations. NOAA Research Wildlife Biologist Peter Duley will be onboard the R/V Neil Armstrong watching for marine life in the Irminger Sea. Photo: Al Plueddemann ©WHOI.[/media-caption]
“Measurements in this remote ocean region are critical to increasing understanding of changes occurring in the ocean,” said Al Plueddemann, head of the OOI Coastal and Global Scale Nodes, which operates the OOI Global Irminger Sea Array. “It’s great to have a collaborative effort with OSNAP in this important area and an opportunity to learn more about marine life during this month-long expedition.”
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