NAAMES May cruise

Ship

R/V Atlantis

Vehicles

Cruise Party

Michael Behrenfeld: Chief Scientist, Principal Investigator
Oregon State university Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Cordley Hall 2082 Corvallis, Oregon USA 97331-2902
+1 541 737 5289
mjb@science.oregonstate.edu

Departure: Woods Hole

Arrival: Woods Hole

Mobilization Date: Apr 26, 2016

Demobilization Date: May 31, 2016

Supporting documentation:

Operations Area: North Atlantic

Lat/Lon: 50° 0.0′ N / 40° 0.0′ W

Depth Range: 0 / 2000

Will the vessel be operating within 200 NM of a foreign country? Canada, Greenland
Are visas or special travel documents required? no

Science objectives

The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) is an interdisciplinary investigation addressing two primary science goals: (1) Define environmental and ecological controls on plankton communities and (2) Define linkages between ocean ecosystem properties and biogenic aerosols. Within these two broad goals, the NAAMES investigation focuses on identifying environment-ecosystem-aerosol interdependencies in the climate-sensitive North Atlantic. This ocean region hosts the largest annual plankton bloom in the global ocean and its impact on Earth’s radiative balance is particularly sensitive to biogenic aerosol emissions. Specific baseline science objectives of NAAMES are to (1) Characterize plankton ecosystem properties during primary phases of the annual cycle in the North Atlantic and their dependence on environmental forcings, (2) Determine how primary phases of the North Atlantic annual plankton cycle interact to recreate each year the conditions for an annual bloom, and (3) Resolve how remote marine aerosols and boundary layer clouds are influenced by plankton ecosystems in the North Atlantic. These objectives are accomplished by coupling autonomous in situ and satellite measurements sustained throughout the NAAMES investigation with short-term, coordinated ship and airborne campaigns that target critical events in the annual plankton cycle and focus on detailed system characterization. These direct observations are integrated with climate-ecosystem modeling to create a process-based understanding that allows improved interpretation of historical data records and improved predictions of future change.

Science Activities

The NAAMES investigation has a duration of 5 years and involves 4 field campaigns.  Each field campaign will share a common observation profile.  The first campaign will occur in November 2015 and will involve the UNOLS R/V Atlantis.  For each campaign, ship-based measurements will be accompanied by aircraft measurements.  The aircraft will be a NASA C-130 stationed either from Saint John’s Bay, Canada, or the Lajes Field in the Azores. Global Class Research Vessels, such as the Atlantis, are required for each field campaign due to requirements for foreward deck space for a full-sized aerosols van, deck space for a radioisotope van, and the large scientific complement (34 berths).  A global class vessel is also advantageous for the NAAMES project on account of sea-worthiness during field studies that span the annual cycle.

Each field campaign involves a 26-day, roughly triangular-shaped ship transect (see uploaded files on transect and stations). The ship’s direction around the transect triangle is scientifically irrelevant, allowing real-time adjustments based on prevailing and forecasted weather conditions and sea-states. Assuming a counterclockwise direction, the ship proceeds from Woods Hole to the turning point at 40° N. During this outbound leg, underway sampling is conducted, but not regular overboard deployments.  It would be very beneficial to make at least one stop during the outbound transect to conduct a ‘shake-down’ station of overboard operations.  Following the turn northward, the full complement of ship-based measurements begins and continues until the northern-most turning point (~55° N). During this primary latitudinal science leg, daily operations involve a sampling station that begins near dawn and then continues until ~11:00.  Station operations will include multiple CTD/Rosette casts, the first of which will be relatively shallow casts (~200 m), followed by a deep cast to ~2000 m.  Optical and other instruments mounted on the rosette for the shallow casts but with depth limits <2000 m will need to be removed before the deep cast.  Following the deep cast, an additional shallow cast will be conducted for final water sampling and underwater light measurements.  Also during station, measurements will be made of downwelling light properties and water leaving radiances.  In addition to daily station occupations, 2 stations will be chosen for long-term measurement series (36-48 h).  During the long-term stations, a surface lagrangian drifter will be deployed upon arrival at station and then measurements will be conducted over the following occupation while following the trajectory of the drifter.  This approach minimizes the impacts of advective processes on measured system changes over the long-term station. Once the primary science transect is complete and the northern-most turning point is reached, the return transect will commence, with continuous in-line measurements conducted until the day before port arrival, but no additional station occupations anticipated.

In addition to water sampling and flow through seawater measurements, another key component of the NAAMES investigation is the measurement of aerosols.  For this aspect, key measurements will be conducted from the Aersosols Van, located on the forward deck of the ship.  Aerosol measurements are conducted continuously while the wind is from the forward direction. These measurement have to be terminated when the wind is from the backward direction, due to contamination from the ship.  Thus, it is desired to keep the ship orientation favorable for aerosol samples for the greatest fraction of the time feasible (understanding that ship orientation during overboard castings is dictated by sea state and wire angle). 

Also during the field campaigns, deployments will be made of five autonomous profiling floats and surface drifters.  Deployments will occur along the N-S primary latitudinal science transect, with exact location dependent on station location and real-time information on regional mesoscale eddies.  Surface drifter deployments will target mesoscale eddy centers and will provide water parcel tracking capabilities that inform flight patterns for the C-130.   

Airborne deployments accompanying the ship measurements will focus on the primary N-S latitudinal transect.  The airborne measurements include in situ aerosol sampling and remote sensing measurements with a hyperspectral ocean color sensor, a high resolution lidar, a polarimeter, and a downwelling irradiance sensor.  Aircraft measurements need to be highly coordinated with the ship, so regular communications between the two platforms is essential.  The NAAMES team gained considerable experience conducting successful ship-aircraft campaigns during the previous 2012 Azores campaign and the 2014 SABOR campaign.  Aircraft measurements begin shortly after takeoff, and continue during the transect to the ship.  Once arriving at the ship, a diversity of flight patterns are followed to characterize horizontal and vertical variability in ocean ecosystem and aerosol properties.  The aircraft transect will also include fly-overs of regions previously sampled by the ship, as tracked by the surface drifters.  These drifters essentially provide a ‘bread crumb trail’ that allows the aircraft to follow changes in system properties well after the ship has departed a given sampling station.  One the primary science measurements are complete along the ship transect, the aircraft returns to base.

Pre-cruise planning meeting: Teleconference/Visit WHOI

Michael Behrenfeld travelled to WHOI for the pre-cruise planning meeting on March 17, 2015.

Stations:

  Station 7
  Distance: 2200
  Days: null
  Latitude: 40° 0.0’ N
  Longitude: 40° 0.0’ W

  Station 1
  Distance: 1100
  Days: 2
  Latitude: 60° 0.0’ N
  Longitude: 40° 0.0’ W

Funding Agency: NASA #NNX15AF30G

- added NASA #NNX15AF30G on Dec 10, 2015 8:08 PM by Dr. Michael Joseph Behrenfeld

R/V Atlantis

Shipboard Equipment

ADCP 75 kHz
Deionized Water System
Science Underway Seawater System
Navigation - Heading
Fume Hood
Navigation - Position

Shipboard Communication

Basic Internet access via HiSeasNet
Is there a need to receive data from shore on a regular basis?
Is there a need to transfer data to shore on a regular basis?
Is there an expectation to use Skype or any other real-time video conference program?

CTD/Water Sampling

911+ Rosette 24-position, 10-liter bottle Rosette with dual T/C sensors
Biospherical underwater PAR (1000m depth limit) with reference Surface PAR
SBE43 oxygen sensor
Seapoint STM turbidity sensor
Wet Labs C*Star transmissometer (660nm wavelength)
Wet Labs ECO-AFL fluorometer
Wet Labs FLNTURTD Combination Flourometer and Turbidity Sensor

Critical CTD Sensors: 

Hydrographic Analysis Equipment

Dissolved Oxygen Titration System (Brinkmann Titrator)
Oxygen Sample Bottles (available in 150 ml sizes)

MET Sensors

Barometric Pressure
Air temperature
Relative Humidity
Wind speed and direction
Short Wave Solar Radiation

Sample Storage

Freezer -70°C 25 cu. ft.
Freezer -70°C 3.2 cu. ft. ea.
Refrigerator 8.6 cu. ft.
Scientific Walk-in Freezer


Storage Notes: is the -70oC 25 cu. ft. freezer a walk-in?

Navigation

Will you be using Long Base Line (LBL) navigation? no

Will you be using Ultra-short baseline (USBL) navigation for other than Alvin operations? no

Navigation

GPS

Navigation Notes: During long-term stations (36 - 48 h), it is desired to take samples following a surface drifter and, when not taking samples to maintain wind direction from the bow for aerosol sampling for as much time as sea state and other factors permit

Winches

CTD Winch with .322" Electro-mechanical wire

Winch Notes:



Wire Notes:

Slip ring required? no	Number of conductors:
Non-standard wire required? no	Type:
Traction winch required? no	Describe:

Portable Vans

Isotope Van

Other Science Vans:

Other Science Vans:

Science Van 1
Type/size: 20' x 8' x 8' shiping container		Location: 02 deck aft
Water: no		Power:no
Science Van 2
Type/size: 20' x 8' x 8' shiping container		Location: 02 deck forward
Water: no		Power:120 amps 'clean' power
Science Van 3
Type/size: 20' x 8' x 8' shiping container		Location: 02 deck
Water: no		Power:120 amps 'clean' power
Science Van 4
Type/size: 20' x 8' x 8' shipping container - see additional notes		Location: 02 deck
Water: no		Power:see additional notes
Science Van 5
Type/size: 20' x 8' x 8' shipping container - see additional notes		Location: 02 deck
Water: no		Power:120 amps 'clean' continuous power at 110 VAC

Specialized Deck Equipment

Mooring Deployment/Recovery Equipment Required: no	Type:
Cruise Specific Science Winch Required: no	Type:
Nets Required: no	Type:

Over the Side Equipment

Will you be bringing any equipment (winches, blocks, etc.) that lowers instruments over the side? yes

Details: 

1. NOAA SeaSweep
2. Peter Guabe transducer pole

Special Requirements

Elecrical Power: yes	Identify: Most of power must be clean and able to run with UPS
Equipment Handling: yes	Identify: hand held deployment of optical sensor / bucket samples of surface seawater on station
Inter/intraship Communications: yes	Identify: communications with C130 aircraft
Science Stowage: yes	Identify: regular access to science sample containers and lab supplies
Water: yes	Identify: plumbing for clean flow through seawater system needs to be cleaned prior to cruise

Additional Cruise Items/Activities

Explosive Devices: no Portable Air Compressors: yes Flammable Gases: yes

Small Boat Operations: no SCUBA Diving Operations: no

Hazardous Material

Will hazardous material be utilized? yes

Radioactive Material

Radioiosotopes: yes

Additional Information

Is night time work anticipated on this cruise? yes

Specialized tech support (Seabeam, coring, other):  night time operations are currently envisioned to be limited to sampling from the ship's clean flow through seawater supply.  Overboard station sampling / profiling is expected to begin slightly before or after dawn

Other required equipment and special needs:  With respect to the CTD/rosette - it would be helpful to have a 36 place rosette if available to facilitate water sampling requirements.  If a 24 place rosette is the largest available, it would helpful if this was equipped with 12 L Niskins.  Also, it is critical that any black o-rings on the Niskin bottles be replaced with the orange silicone o-rings, as the black versions are toxic and will have serious impacts on many of the sensitive biological measurements made during the cruise.

With respect to the C-star transmissometer and FLNTURTD requested above, it is desired that these are mounted on teh CTD/rosette system for water column profiling.

With respect to science portable vans:  We are currently anticipating 3 portable science vans for the cruise.  The first is a RAD van provided by UNOLS.  The other 2 vans are aerosol vans on the forward 02 deck.  The following text provides some additional information regarding these two aerosol vans.

Both aerosol vans are 20’x8’x8’ shipping containers.  The 1^st is owned by Scripps and will contain atmospheric particle measurements (possibly including Meskidhze's instruments and sampling).  The 2^ndaerosol van is to be requested from UNOLS for atmospheric gas measurements.  Preferred mounting is on feet or rails 2’ above deck.  We'll need 2 stair steps for each if available.  It is prefer if both aersol vans are both mounted as far forward as possible and as close to each other as possible. 

For the Scripps van, power requirements are 120 amps “clean” continuous power at 110 VAC.  Lynn Russel will provide a 408 transformer. For the UNOLS supplied van, power requirements are  25 amps "clean" power and 14.1 amps dirty power at 110 VAC.  The UCSC team has an additional 11 amp clean + 11 amp dirty power requirement for their mass spectrometer, but where this souce is depends on where the instrument is located (i.e., either in the van or wet lab).  A crane is required to load van (15000 lb) onto “feet” bolted to 02 deck.  A crane is again required to load inlet (300 lb) on top of van while it is secured.  Two gas cylinders (dry air, standard size) need to be secured external to van (request a 2x2 rack be mounted on deck adjacent to back of van).

We would also like to request, if possible, phone installation in the Scripps van (the use of walkie talkies is not advised as they interfere with the mass spectrometers in the van)

Other miscellaneous items

(1) It was not clear in this form if the R/V Atlantis has as part of its normal operating measurement instruments a Turner fluorometer for descrete sample chlorophyll measurements (??)

(2) It would be helpful to know the volume of distillied/milli-Q water the ship can generate (?)
Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2015 4:21 PM by Dr. Michael Joseph Behrenfeld