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Ocean Interactions
Ocean and Atmosphere connecting Scientists, Teachers & Students
Q & A (week 11/17/03)
1.) Do you have stored drinking water on board? If not, how do you get drinking water (besides the Wal-Mart buoy, not!)?
We do have storage tanks for water, but this water has been purified from seawater. In the engine room, there is a system which quickly boils seawater. The salts and other chemicals do not evaporate with the water, and the pure water vapor then moves into a cooling chamber. There, it condenses back into clean water for use for showers, drinking, cooking, laundry, etc. We still must be conscious not to waste water on the ship because the storage tanks are limited, and the process of boiling the water also requires energy (burning diesel fuel).
2.) About Free-loaders, is "Bill" still with you?
We were all a little concerned about Bill....he stuck around for about 4-5 days, and we thought maybe he was sick. Then, when we arrived at the 110W/5N buoy, there were a couple of boobies residing there. I guess Bill decided that they were better company than us, and he stayed behind. I like to think that Bill is in his Happy Place.
3.) You mentioned there may be a weak El Nino forming by the end of this month. We read the article, and we were surprised to learn that last year was an El Nino year because our winter in California was quite mild (no heavy rains and massive flooding). How do you explain this?
Every El Nino is different....some of them are very weak and only last a few weeks, while others are intense and long-lasting. The ones that are intense are the ones that you folks in SoCal feel the most (rain rain rain). A strong El Nino will affect more of the U.S. than a weak one too.
4.) We see Jeff in a photo using a psychrometer, when you find the wet bulb temperature do you spin the instrument around?
The instrument that I was using in the photo is called an Assmann psychrometer (I'm not making the name up). This device has a wind-up spring which turns a fan to blow air across the wet and dry bulb thermometers. It is always best to have temperature instruments shielded from the sun (for example, in a louvered box like the students have at Gilpin County school) and that the air is 'aspirated' (blown) across the sensor. This should not be done by blowing on the sensor, but by using a fan or by putting the thermometer into the breeze. The technique we have developed on the ship is to wind up the fan and place the bulbs into the breeze that always blows into the 'bullnose'. A bullnose is the place on the bow of the ship where the ship's lines are placed for tying up, and you can see one of them just beside my right leg in the picture. > We want to thank you especially for answering all of our questions > and the miniature ice cream cup (without the ice cream) that you made for us. If you have any dead barnacles from your buoys, may we have one? I can't give you any barnacles because we are having them for Thanksgiving! Just kidding, we will have a huge turkey feast, just like all of you. I wish that I had brought some fluid for preserving barnacles, then I could bring them back and give them to you. They are very delicate and would dry up into nearly nothing but a smelly shell, so I'm not going to send you any. I can tell you that they are only about as big as the tip of my pinkie to the first knuckle.
Q & A (week 11/10/03)
1.) Now we have the rains, and some flooding is occurring. Our question is since we had not only organic material burn, but inorganic material too, how much of this material will go into our ocean and affect it? And will this material find its way to the deeper parts of the ocean?
Flooding will cause some of the ash and other burnt materials to be transported into the sea, there's no doubt. Although the ash is part of a natural cycle (as long as there have been forests, there have been fires and subsequent ash loading into the rivers and coastal waters). I don't have a feeling for exactly HOW MUCH stuff could be a pollution problem (since I have been at sea during the fires and don't really have accurate information), but I suspect that there could be a short-term problem with oils and surfactants (plastics, for example) polluting the CA and Baja coasts. However, given the rate at which upwelling occurs along that coast and given the limited extent of the fires (I know that the fires were large, but the ocean is a vast vast area), I don't think that there will be long-term issues as a result of the recent fires.
2.) We read one of Jeff Hares' Sea Story about how equipment was not working on one of the ships, our teacher, who participated in NOAA's Teacher At Sea Program in 1998, had a problem like that on the Albatross (out of WoodsHole). After 3 days out at sea their wench broke and they could not fix it, so they had to come back to port. How do you safeguard against somethinglike this happening to you? Can a plane drop you equipment if needed?
This is a good question, and it has an easy answer. If something breaks that cannot be fixed, we drive over to the HOME DEPOT buoy and grab a replacement, NOT. Actually, the only way to ensure that you have working equipment for the duration of the expedition is to PLAN ahead: bring spare instruments; test and re-test all your gear; make sure you have expertise for each and every system, and if you don't have an expert, then get training before you leave to get on the ship. For example, we have a radar wind profiler and a C-band 'weather' radar running on the ship right now. Before we left port, we had our engineer go over the systems thoroughly to check the integrity of each element. Furthermore, Brenda and Dan Wolfe (NOAA-ETL) went to a training class in Massachusetts about 2 months ago in order to get further education on the operation of the C-band radar. Sometimes these steps are expensive, but it is necessary in order to ensure successful running of the instrumentation. There have been times when an instrument or piece of equipment that we have brought has busted (actually, it happens all the time). Also, there've been times when you can't fix it, or you don't have a replacement. This is undesireable, and the people who are paying for you to conduct your work (the funding agencies like, NOAA, NASA, the Navy, National Science Foundation, etc) may be disappointed enough to not fund your work the next time around.
3.) What kind of gas flux occurs over the ocean after large coastal areas have burned for several days (like what we recently had in Southern California)?
This is a difficult one to answer....I'll just ramble on and maybe there will be a gem of an idea that you students can understand. There are 2 separate issues with gaseous and aerosol pollutant loading into the ocean. The first is TRANSPORT....the pollution needs to be carried over the water by the winds. In the case of the California fires, the wind moves pollutants from West to East, so your neighbors in Arizona get most of the pollution. Aerosols and gases from fires in Indonesia are sometimes sensed on the U.S. west coast with sophisticated measurement systems. So, it is possible to measure how much pollution gets transported over large areas of the ocean. The second element is TRANSFER, which includes gas flux and aerosol deposition (an aerosol is a particle and not a simple gas). Gas flux is the process by which gases dissolve into the ocean. We are able to study oxygen, DMS, and carbon dioxide flux between the air and sea only because there is enough of mass of these gases that we can actually measure. In the case of more complex molecules, one can measure samples of air and perform chemical analyses to deduce the amount of 'sulfur' compounds or 'dissolved organics', etc (we aren't doing that during this cruise). However, this chemical analysis is difficult and requires large volumes of air to get a significant number of the desired 'oddball' molecules. When measuring 'fluxes', we want to measure the turbulent fluctuations on the smallest scales (down to a few centimeters in size).
4.) Last question: Did you see the Leonid Meteor Showers this week? Did you take any photos?
We did NOT see the meteor shower because we weren't aware of it until very late and we have had a lot of clouds in the past week. We did catch most of the lunar eclipse, however. One thing I have to tell you....it is extremely difficult to take long-exposure photographs from the ship. To get a reasonable picture of ANYTHING at night, one needs to have the shutter open for long enough to allow significant light to enter through the camera lens. The ship is always moving, so it is nearly impossible to take night-time photos without special expensive gear. When we are near and south of the Equator, we can see the Southern Cross constellation. Most of you have never seen it, but it is a very striking constellation, once used by sailors for navigation. The cloudless night sky over the ocean, far from land, is breathtaking. At night, the ship 'runs dark' on the exterior decks (all lights are out and all windows are curtained). This helps the watchstanders and officers to see better....once your eyes become adjusted to the dark, it is easier to see the ocean around you. This is important for the people on the bridge, who must constantly be looking for any dangerous object or ship in the water.
Q & A (week 11/3/03)
1. When you were talking about discrepancies of data sets in your log book, what did you mean?
From Jeff: Sometimes, when we are working on our data, we might see a problem. Let's say, a number that you think should be positive (like, using a sonar to measure the the depth of the water) comes up negative. That doesn't make sense, so you make a note of it in the log book for reference later on. Another example might be a situation where you are taking wind speed data, and another scientist is also making the same measurement, but with a different instrument. When you are on the ship, you have alot of time to compare data sets. Maybe you use the computer to plot your wind data and the other guy's wind data, but they aren't exactly the same (this often happens). The log book should be used to make a note of this type of discrepancy, and it should always include the time and date of the problem. Another instance where a log entry should be made is when the scientist makes a change in the instrument or in the recording method, etc.
2. What kind of data does a radiosonde balloon take? and can the balloon be used over again?
From Brenda: The balloon radiosondes measure pressure, air temperature, humidity, and windspeed and direction, during the entire flight up. The balloon expands in size as it goes up because of the lower pressure outside the balloon compared to inside the balloon. The balloon eventually pops and the radiosonde falls back to the ground; they can not be reused. Back in the old days, the radiosonde was a big hard plastic shell; they used to put a sheet of paper in it saying "If found, please send to....". Those that were sent back to the company would be rebuilt and reused. Nowadays, the radiosondes are built to be disposable and are made in smaller, more compact containers made from cardboard.
 From Jeff: A radiosonde is the package which is tied to the bottom of the balloon, which only serves to lift the package up through the atmosphere. The radiosonde measures wind speed and direction, pressure, temperature, and humidity as it ascends. The wind speed and direction are measured by using the GPS satellite system and recording how the balloon and radiosonde move horizontally (by the wind) as it lifts. Pressure, temperature, and humidity are measured with sensors on board the package. We have attached a photo of the radiosonde here.
At the top, you can see the GPS receiver (copper coil) which is on the radiosonde as well as the temperature and humidity sensors (silver color). The pressure sensor is inside. You can also see the string that attaches to the balloon, and there is a 'de-reeler' which spools out the string after launch so that the package drops down below the balloon. Neither the radiosondes nor the balloons are re-usable these days. A few years ago, the manufacturers quit using styrofoam (which is a good insulator for the cold in the upper atmosphere but a nuisance pollutant in the ocean). The balloon is still latex, and there are concerns that sea turtles might swallow the balloon.
3. How can I find out the schedule for the Ronald H. Brown (NOAA > Ship)? It says it's a restricted site.
From Jeff: The schedule for the NOAA ships has been restricted since September 11th of 2001. This is due to concerns that terrorists might see the U.S. government owned research vessels as a target. I can tell you that after this trip is over, the ship will be in Charleston SC (its home port) until mid-February. In 2004, the Ron Brown will be in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, off the coast of New England, Miami, and in the Northern Antilles Islands. Also, at the end of next year, the ship will travel through the Panama Canal to do the same buoy lines we are doing now (they do it every year). The draft schedule for 2005 includes the Bahamas, Uruguay, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the Canary Islands, Miami, and Charleston. Unfortunately, there aren't alot of U.S. port stops for our participating classes to get a chance to visit the ship. If one of you teachers wants to know the schedule, just e-mail me at my ship e-mail address or my e-mail address at home (you can get it from Tammy), and I'll be glad to send you the schedule. There are other research vessels which are similar to the Ron Brown (for example, the "Revelle" runs out of San Diego and is a 'sister' ship to the "Brown"), and I can help you locate the ports for those ships as well.
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