Posts Tagged ‘Jonathan Fram’
Endurance Array Reaches 20th Deployment
Since 2014 when the U.S. National Science Foundation Ocean Observatories Initiative Coastal Endurance Array was first deployed in the waters off the coasts of Oregon and Washington, the array has been turned – that is moorings were recovered and replaced with new – 19 times. The upcoming expedition on March 28th, with 15 scientists and engineers aboard the R/V Sikuliaq will be the 19th time that the array has been pulled out of the water and replaced, and the 20th time the array has been deployed.
Over the past nine years, the turns have happened every six months, except for in 2020 when COVID restrictions caused the Endurance team to space two consecutive turn cruises 9 months apart. Regular recovery and deployments are needed to ensure the observing equipment stays operational.
“The EA team has really gotten proficient at turning the arrays,” said Jonathan Fram, the Endurance Array’s Project Manager, who will serve as the Chief Scientist for this expedition, his 10th time leading the effort. “We’ve made many technical improvements over the years to combat the powerful and ever-changing conditions of the Northeast Pacific Ocean so that we can continue to collect and report continuous ocean data from this important region.”
The 20th expedition will begin and end at the Oregon State University’s newly renovated pier in Newport, Oregon. The arrays and associated equipment will be transported to Newport from Corvallis in six tractor trailer trucks. Because of the large size of these components, the expedition will be conducted in two legs. The first leg will head to the Washington site, with a transit time of 2/3’s of a day. The second leg will be to the Oregon site. In total, the team will recover and deploy six surface moorings (two battery powered buoys and four large buoys powered by wind and solar energy), one offshore and three surface piercing profiler moorings, and four gliders. One glider experiencing navigation issues will be recovered. CTD casts (to measure conductivity, temperature, and depth) and water sampling will be conducted along with each mooring operation.
This 20th trip includes several technical improvements. The line used on the Heavy Lift Winch has been increased in size to improve load strength and safety. Each buoy will include a covered wagon style guard against sea lions, who regularly use the buoys as rest stops. All batteries have been replaced or upgraded. Additional improvements have been made that will result in better real-time wind data, and underwater camera operations. The Endurance 20 team also will be deploying new test instruments to see if they might improve data gathering for wind, pH, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Screenshot-2024-03-21-at-11.54.35-AM.png" link="#"]To dissuade sea lions that regularly stop and rest on Endurance Array buoys, OOI engineers have ingeniously devised a steel cover to protect the solar panels that provide power to the mooring. Credit: Jonathan Fram, OSU.[/media-caption]“The order of operations will in part depend on conditions,” added Fram, who joked, “but we expect this trip to be easier than last spring’s, which was three weeks earlier, when we were preparing for the cruise in the snow.”
In addition to regular operations, the Endurance Team will be joined by scientific partners. University of South Carolina (USC) researcher Eric Tappa and Oregon State University (OSU) student Faith Schell will be onboard to help turn a sediment trap adjacent to OOI’s Oregon Slope Base site. This is part of an ongoing research effort of OSU Associate Professor Jennifer Fehrenbacher and USC Professor Claudia Benitez-Nelson, who study the geochemistry, biomineralization, and marine biology of the sediments. Additionally, the team will be deploying fish tag readers for OSU Assistant Professor Taylor Chapple to support his work studying sharks and other large marine predators.
The expedition’s progress will be reported daily. Bookmark this page and follow along as the work unfolds.
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Eighteenth Turn of the Coastal Endurance Array
On Tuesday March 7th, 11 hearty scientists and engineers from Oregon State University (OSU) are heading out to the northeast Pacific aboard the R/V Sikuliaq to recover and deploy (turn) the Coastal Endurance Array. For some of the team members, this will be the eighteenth time they have made this journey to ensure that the Coastal Endurance Array continues to report data from this important region.
The array is in an important region with coastal upwelling, where strong winds cause surface waters to be pushed offshore and water from the ocean depths is pulled up – or upwelled – to the surface to take its place. These regions comprise less than 5 percent of the ocean’s surface area, yet account for a quarter of the global fish catch. The Endurance Array has been collecting data in this region since 2016, which scientists have used to examine ocean health issues, including hypoxia, ocean acidification, and how they affect ocean life.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_6460-scaled.jpg" link="#"]The Endurance 18 will be deploying seven moorings, six gliders, and four coastal surface piercing profilers, which requires the expedition to be conducted in two legs because of space limitations on the stern. Credit: Darlene Trew Crist ©WHOI.[/media-caption]The Endurance team will be very busy during their 16-day expedition. Because of the size of the equipment, the expedition will occur in two legs so recovered equipment can be brought back to shore and replaced with equipment to be deployed. They intend to recover and deploy seven moorings and recover two gliders, while deploying a full contingent of six gliders. Three gliders will “fly” at shallow depths of 200 meters across the shelf. Another three will travel at 1000 meters depth offshore. Weather and seas permitting, the team also plans to deploy four coastal surface piercing profilers.
The team will also be conducting water sampling before and after each deployment. 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 six months.
Chief Scientist, Jonathan Fram, who will lead both legs of the expedition, said, “Endurance 18 is happening earlier than our usual spring expeditions, which means we are likely to face rough seas. We have a highly experienced team, the ship has an exceptional crew, and we’ll be on a weather-hardened ship, so we will be able to make the most of our time at sea. Platforms that can be deployed from a smaller vessel may be deferred to spring if there are long weather delays on this end-of-winter expedition.”
The team had already experienced some unexpected weather as a freak snowstorm covered the ocean observing equipment in the storage area in Corvallis. The team had to “clean off the cars,” so to speak, before loading the equipment onto trucks for transport to the dock in Newport, for loading on the ship.
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-06-at-10.04.08-AM.png" link="#"]A few days before ocean observing equipment in Corvallis was set to be transported to the dock in Newport for loading onto the R/V Sikuliaq, an unexpected snowstorm made its way to Corvallis, covering the equipment in white. Credit: Jon Fram, OSU.[/media-caption]In addition to OOI’s recovery and deployment operations, during leg two, University of South Carolina researcher Eric Tappa, will lead the recovery and deployment of a sediment trap adjacent to OOI’s Oregon Slope Base site. “This is an example of how OOI tries to maximize ship time by partnering with scientists and other partners and institutions to make full use of the time at sea. We are always open to discussing ways we might advance other scientific objectives,” added Fram. (See How to Participate for more information.)
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-06-at-10.06.37-AM.png" link="#"]One technical improvement that will be deployed during Endurance 18 is a new steel frame over the solar polars to prevent damage caused by frequent sea lion visitors. This is one of many incremental technical improvements that are made to OOI arrays to optimize their operations while at sea. Credit: Jon Fram, OSU.[/media-caption]During the expedition, two University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) cruise volunteers will be onboard as well as two OSU undergraduates who are employed by OOI to help with the refurbishment of moorings. An OSU videographer will also be onboard to share the ongoing work. Bookmark this site and follow along on the journey.
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Visit to West Coast OOI Facilities
A group of Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) leaders visited OOI facilities at Oregon State University and the University of Washington last week to get a first-hand look at operations of the Coastal Endurance Array and Regional Cabled Array, respectively. National Science Foundation Program Director George Voulgaris, OOI Principal Investigator Jim Edson and Senior Program Manager Paul Matthias spent five days on the road meeting with their OOI west coast colleagues. The trip was designed to give recently appointed Voulgaris an opportunity to inspect the infrastructure and meet team members who keep the Coastal Endurance and Regional Cabled Arrays operational and reporting back data around the clock. Edson and Matthias seized the opportunity to meet in person with colleagues who they routinely see on the screen.
The following provides a glimpse of some of the activities that occurred during the trip:
[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20230207_140014.jpg" link="#"]Grant Dunn, Mechanical Engineer with the Electronic & Photonic Systems Department at UW-APL (left) describes the level-wind system on the RCA profiler mooring to Dr. George Voulgaris during a tour of the RCA laboratory facilities at the University of Washington as RCA Project Manager Brian Ittig looks on. Credit: Paul K. Matthias © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20230207_144911.jpg" link="#"]Regional Cabled Array Principal Investigator Deborah Kelley (left) and OOI Senior Program Manager Paul Matthias take a selfie to commemorate their in-person visit during a tour of the RCA facilities at the University of Washington. Credit: Paul K. Matthias © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20230207_141656.jpg" link="#"]NSF Program Director George Voulgaris (from left), OOI Principal Investigator Jim Edson look on as Regional Cabled Array technicians Grant Dunn, Mechanical Engineer with the Electronic & Photonic Systems Department at UW-APL, and RCA Chief Engineer Chuck McGuire explain the engineering associated with the RCA profiler mooring during a tour of RCA’s facilities at the University of Washington. Credit: Paul K. Matthias © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20230209_123758.jpg" link="#"]NSF Program Director George Voulgaris (left) asks OSU technician Jonathan Whitefield questions about glider operations that provide critical water column data around the moorings of the Coastal Endurance Array. Credit: Paul K. Matthias © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20230207_112718.jpg" link="#"]NSF Program Director George Voulgaris (foreground) and RCA Chief Engineer Chuck McGuire discuss the RCA data monitoring systems as OOI PI Jim Edson points to real-time data on the screen being relayed by instrumentation on the Regional Cabled Array. Credit: Paul K. Matthias © WHOI.[/media-caption] [media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/20230209_130353.jpg" link="#"]NSF Program Director George Voulgaris (left) gets a hands-on look at the multiple instruments contained on multi-function node that will sit on the bottom of the ocean floor for six months collecting data for the Coastal Endurance Array. Coastal Endurance Array Principal Investigator Ed Dever (middle) and Project Manager Jonathan Fram the functionality of each instrument during the visit to Oregon State University. Credit: Paul K. Matthias © WHOI.[/media-caption]
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Sept 21 Noon Eastern: Live Ship-to-Shore Video from Endurance 17
Mark your calendar to tune in to a rare opportunity to see live OOI action from the R/V Thomas G. Thompson: Wednesday September 21 at noon eastern. Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants will be interviewing Chief Scientist Jonathan Fram as he and his team get ready to depart on the 17th recovery and deployment expedition of the Coastal Endurance Array. It should be a fun and informative operation. Register here, then tune in.
Rocky Seas Didn’t Deter Endurance 15’s Success
In spite of rocking seas, a generator in need of repair, and a medical delay, the Coastal Endurance Array team successfully completed its mission to turn the array for the 15th time, achieving all of its science objectives.
Weather conditions in the northern Pacific were less-than-ideal for two of the three legs of the two-week expedition. At one point, winds speeds of 25-30 knots, with accompanying waves of up to 10 feet, caused a weather delay in operations and subsequent alterations in cruise plans.
“While it was comfortable to be aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson even in such conditions, sea conditions were borderline for entering or exiting Newport and deploying or recovering most platforms, “explained Chief Scientist Jonathan Fram, who led the 10-member science party. “Fortunately, we had good weather during the first leg of the cruise, which gave us some leeway to address weather-related downtime and other delays during latter legs of the cruise. We were able to switch the order of some activities, delay some deployments, and ultimately got most everything in and out of the water as planned during our time at sea.”[media-caption path=”https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-28-at-5.20.52-PM.png” link=”#”]When seas were calm, the team was able to deploy moorings like this one. After deployment, they headed back to port with a deck full of recovered equipment.[/media-caption]
The team successfully deployed and recovered six surface moorings, four gliders, and two profilers. They also recovered two additional profilers and an anchor from 2020. In addition, the team conducted CTD water sampling and also conducted sampling for researchers with instruments on Endurance Array moorings. The team succeeded in collecting fouling communities growing on buoy panels for researcher Linsey Haram of the Smithsonian Institution and organisms on devices attached to two multi-function nodes for Oklahoma State researcher Ashley Burkett.
While in the roaring sea, the team tested potential instrument replacements and new sampling strategies. They also assessed first-time implementation of technical improvements including a new solar panel frame to prevent sea lions from unplugging the panels, an underwater camera constructed with off-the-shelf replacement parts to ensure longevity and resilience, and a stretch hose from a new manufacturer with a slightly different design than previous versions.
“In spite of having to repeatedly change our plans,” adds Fram, “we were pleased to be able to meet all of the cruise objectives. The ocean in the Pacific Northwest is too harsh for scientists to go to sea often in fall and winter, so it is important to refresh this array of autonomous platforms that will keep recording and delivering data during rough times.”
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