Feature Publication Archive
Mordy, C.W., E. Cokelet, A. DeRobertis, R. Jenkins, C. Meinig, C. Berchok, J. Crance, J. Cross, C. Kuhn, N. Lawrence-Slavas, P. Stabeno, J. Sterling, H. Tabisola, and I. Wangen (2017): Advances in ecosystem research: Saildrone surveys of oceanography, fish and marine mammals in the Bering Sea. Oceanography, 30, 2, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2017.230.
This month's featured article provides an overview of the first Saildrone mission conducted jointly between NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL).
The Saildrone is an autonomous surface vehicle outfitted with meteorological and oceanographic sensors, including passive and active acoustics. In 2016, NOAA used the Saildrone to survey the Bering Sea, a region known for its harsh conditions (e.g., storms, low light, biofouling) and high level of biological productivity. The mission was a success, and the Saildrone proved... more »
Dziak, R.P., J.H. Haxel, H. Matsumoto, T.-K. Lau, S. Heimlich, S. Nieukirk, D.K. Mellinger, J. Osse, C. Meinig, N. Delich, and S. Stalin (2017): Ambient sound at Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench.Oceanography, 30 (2), doi:10.5670/oceanog.2017.240.
You might imagine the bottom of the ocean’s deepest point, seven miles down, to be a very quiet place. However, NOAA and partner scientists, making the first recordings from the Challenger Deep trough in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, found something remarkably different: a wide variety of human-caused and natural sounds, including the hum of ship propellers, active sonar, earthquakes, baleen whales, and a category 4 typhoon passing near the sensor.
Human-generated noise has increased steadily over the past several decades. This project, which was funded by the NOAA Office... more »
A New Robust Sensor for Extended Autonomous Measurements of Surface Ocean Dissolved Inorganic Carbon
Fassbender, A.J., C.L. Sabine, N. Lawrence-Slavas, E.H. De Carlo, C. Meinig, and S. Maenner Jones (2015): Robust sensor for extended autonomous measurements of surface ocean dissolved inorganic carbon. Environ. Sci. Tech., doi: 10.1021/es5047183.
The ocean plays an important role in global climate through the transport and storage of carbon, yet it is unclear how ocean warming and acidification will influence ocean carbon cycling on societally relevant timescales. This uncertainty is largely due to the challenges in developing autonomous marine sensors with the accuracy and endurance needed for long-term observational efforts that can resolve environmental variability. In addition, two carbonate system parameters must be measured simultaneously in order to fully constrain seawater carbonate chemistry and to quantitatively assess... more »
Bates, T.S., P.K. Quinn, J.E. Johnson, A. Corless, F.J. Brechtel, S.E. Stalin, C. Meinig, and J.F. Burkhart (2013): Measurements of atmospheric aerosol vertical distributions above Svalbard, Norway, using unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, doi: 10.5194/amt-6-2115-2013, 2115–2120
Atmospheric aerosol vertical distributions were measured above Svalbard, Norway, in April 2011 during the Cooperative Investigation of Climate-Cryosphere Interactions campaign (CICCI). Measurements were made of the particle number concentration and the aerosol light absorption coefficient at three wavelengths. A filter sample was collected on each flight at the altitude of maximum particle number concentration. The filters were analyzed for major anions and cations. The aerosol payload was flown in a NOAA/PMEL MANTA Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). A total of 18... more »
Lawson, R.A., D. Graham, S. Stalin, C. Meinig, D. Tagawa, N. Lawrence-Slavas, R. Hibbins, and B. Ingham (2011): From Research to Commercial Operations: The Next Generation Easy-to-Deploy (ETD) Tsunami Assessment Buoy. In Proceedings of Oceans' 11 MTS/IEEE, Kona, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 19–22 September 2011, No. 6107114, 8 pp.
This paper addresses the transition from research to commercial operations of a next generation tsunami assessment system. Over the last five years, NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) has developed the next-generation Easy-to-Deploy (ETD) Deep-ocean Assessment and Recording of Tsunamis (DART®) buoy system. Through a technology transfer and license agreement, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) produced the first commercial ETD DART® system based on the PMEL design. The SAIC ETD DART® was deployed northeast of Australia... more »