TROPICAL ATMOSPHERE-OCEAN (TAO) PROGRAM

DRAFT

CRUISE INSTRUCTIONS

FOR

KA-06-06 (GP7-06-KA)

October 5 – November 3, 2006

 

TAO Program Director

Dr. Michael J. McPhaden

PMEL, TAO Project Office

7600 Sand Point Way NE

Seattle, WA 98115

 

Area:     Equatorial Pacific

Itinerary:

KA-06-06          Honolulu, Hawaii            DEP   October 5, 2006

Kwajalein Atoll, RMI       ARR   November 3, 2006

 

CRUISE DESCRIPTION

General guidelines are contained in the TAO Program Standard Operating Instructions for NOAA Ship KA’IMIMOANA dated December 8, 2004.

 

Cruise Objective and Plan:

The objective of this cruise is the maintenance of the TAO Array along the 155°W and 170°W meridians.  The scientific complement for the cruise will embark in Honolulu, HI, on October 4, 2006.  The ship will depart on October 5, 2006, to commence operations as listed in Appendix A.  After completion of operations, NOAA Ship KA’IMIMOANA will proceed to Kwajalein Atoll, RMI, arriving on or about November 3, 2006.   All dates and times referred to in these cruise instructions are in Pacific Standard Time (PST).

 

 

MOP Operations:                                             TAO Operations Manager:

Larry Mordock                                                  LCDR Brian Lake, NOAA

NOAA/MOC-Pacific (MOC-P1x3)                       PMEL, TAO, R/PMEL

1801 Fairview Avenue East                                 7600 Sand Point Way NE

Seattle, Washington  98102-3767             Seattle, Washington 98115-0070

(206) 553-4764                                                  (206) 526-6403

Larry.Mordock@noaa.gov                                  Brian.Lake@noaa.gov

 

1.0        PERSONNEL

 

1.1        CHIEF SCIENTIST AND PARTICIPATING SCIENTISTS:

 

Chief Scientist:               Patrick A’Hearn

 

The Chief Scientist is authorized to revise or alter the scientific portion of the cruise plan as work progresses provided that, after consultation with the Commanding Officer, it is ascertained that the proposed changes will not: (1) jeopardize the safety of personnel or the ship; (2) exceed the overall time allotted for the cruise; (3) result in undue additional expenses; (4) alter the general intent of these instructions.  A list of participating scientists follows.  All participating scientists will submit a medical history form and be medically approved before embarking.

 

Participating Scientists:

 

Name

Gender

Nationality

Affiliation

Patrick A’Hearn

 M

US

PMEL

Brian Powers

M

US

PMEL

Karolyn Braun

F

US

NMAO/TAS

Erich Rienecker

M

US

MBARI

Jeff Wise

M

US

NDBC

James Rauch

M

US

NDBC

 

 

2.0        OPERATIONS

 

Mooring Operations are scheduled to be conducted as shown in Appendix A.  Operations will be conducted from 08°N – 155°W to 08°S – 155°W and 08°S – 170°W to 08°N – 170°W.  The following mooring operations are anticipated, though the work may be changed by direction of the Chief Scientist, in consultation with the Commanding Officer.

 

Location

Mooring Type

Operation

Status

08°N 155°W

ATLAS

Recover/Deploy

 

05°N 155°W

ATLAS

Visit

 

02°N 155°W

ATLAS

Recover/Deploy

 

0° 155°W

ATLAS

Repair

Swap rain gauge, reset tube, swap out MBARI instrument controller

02°S 155°W

ATLAS

Recover/Deploy

 

05°S 155°W

ATLAS

Visit

 

08°S 155°W

ATLAS

Recover/Deploy

 

Transit

 

 

 

08°S 170°W

ATLAS

Recover/Deploy

 

05°S 170°W

ATLAS

Visit

 

02°S 170°W

ATLAS

Repair

Pull buoy on deck and replace cotter pins, Swap out MBARI instrument controller

0° 170°W

ATLAS

Repair

Swap rain gauge, swap CO2 system, pull buoy on deck and replace cotter pins

02°N 170°W

ATLAS

Recover/Deploy

 

05°N 170°W

ATLAS

Visit

 

08°N 170°W

ATLAS

Recover/Deploy

 

08°N 180°

ATLAS

Visit

 

 

 

2.01      CTD

 

At a minimum, 1,000 meter CTD casts shall be conducted at each mooring site between 08°N and 08°S for sensor inter‑comparison purposes.  As time permits, additional or deeper CTD’s should be conducted whenever addition of the CTD’s will not impact scheduled mooring work.  For example, if the ship would arrive at the next mooring site in the middle of the night, it is preferable to do CTD’s on the way, rather than remain hove to waiting for daylight.  Another example would be when mooring operations are significantly ahead of schedule.  Beyond those at mooring sites, CTD’s should be conducted in the following order of priority:

·         1,000m CTD’s at one degree latitude intervals between 12°N and 08°S, along the ship’s trackline.

·         Extend 1,000m CTD’s at mooring sites to a minimum of 3,000m or a maximum depth of 200m from bottom.  Four to six deep casts are optimal, occurring at the beginning and end of the cruise as well as at both equatorial sites.

·         1,000m CTD’s every one‑half degree of latitude between 03°N and 03°S.

·         Additional calibration CTD’s to be determined by Chief Scientist.


Eight seawater samples will be collected from each CTD cast for later salinity analysis on-board with an autosalinometer.  Sampling depths vary depending on the depth of the cast.  The Survey Technician, together with other embarked scientific personnel will operate the CTD during casts and take the samples.  The Survey Technician will conduct later analysis with the autosal.

 

2.02      Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Chlorophyll and Nutrients

2.021     Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Chlorophyll and Nutrients

Phytoplankton biomass work consisting of chlorophyll extractions and nutrients samples will be collected from CTD rosette at 0, 10, 25, 40, 60, 100, 150, and 200m.  The total volume used from each bottle, including rinses is approximately one liter; except for the surface bottle, which will require approximately three liters.  This requires use of the sink/bench area of the wet lab for filtration purposes.  Chlorophyll samples will be measured on-board using a bench-top fluorometer located in the computer room.    Nutrient samples (sea water) will be stored in the science hold and off-loaded upon return.  MBARI instrumentation (electronic controllers) on moorings currently deployed at 0°155°W and 2°S170°W will be replaced.

 

Sechi disk casts will be made concurrently with ctd casts and will require no extra time.  

 

The contact for this project is:

 Dr. Francisco Chavez

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

7700 Sandholdt Road 
Moss Landing, CA 95039


Phone: (831) 775-1709 


Fax: (831) 775-1620


email: chfr@mbari.org

 

2.03      Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) Surface Drifters

The Global Drifter Center at NOAA/AOML requests drifter deployments on an ancillary basis.  The drifters are small, easily deployed devices that are tracked by ARGOS and provide Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and mixed layer currents.  The global array of drifters provides SST ground truth for NOAA’s polar orbiting satellite AVHRR SST maps.  They also provide data to operational meteorological and ocean models, and research ocean current data sets.

 

AOML drifters are scheduled at the following positions: 

155W: at or about latitudes 5N, 3N, equ, 3S, 5S

170W: at or about latitudes 5N, 2N, equ, 2S, 5S

 

 

The contact for this project is:

 

Craig Engler, NOAA/AOML

Global Drifter Center,

Tel: (305) 361‑4439

Fax: (305) 361‑4392

E-mail: Craig.Engler@noaa.gov

URL: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/

 

2.04      Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) Argo Profiling CTD Floats

 

 Several  (12-14) floats are scheduled for deployment on this cruise.   Individual deployment positions can be shifted by a degree or so along the ship track if more convenient.  Each float weighs about 56 lbs.  The boxes weigh about 200 lbs. full and are 82” long x 17” high x 23” long.  Boxes cannot be stored or transported on their small ends.   The floats are sensitive to high temperatures, so as space for a pair of floats becomes available on the computer lab rack, it will be desirable to move floats from the next box to the rack at the earliest convenient time.  A manual for float testing and deployment has been sent to the ship.  Float deployment locations are as follows:

 

Float number deployment positions will be determined prior to sailing by the Argo Program.

 

Argo float questions should be directed to:

 

Gregory Johnson, NOAA/PMEL              or                     Elizabeth Steffen, NOAA/PMEL

Tel: (206) 526-6806                                                                    Tel: (206) 526-6747

E-mail: pmel_floats@noaa.gov                                                     E-mail: pmel_floats@noaa.gov

 

2.05      Discreet Gas Sampler

Whole air samples are cryogenically dried and pumped into glass flasks by an automated system in the computer lab.  Following the cruise, the flasks are returned to Princeton University for analysis by prepaid FEDEX.  Pairs of flasks are collected while the ship is underway at 08°N, 04°N, 00°, 04°S, and 08°S along the 155°W and 170°W lines.  Automated sampling cycle is approximately five hours.  It is anticipated that the Survey Technician will perform the maintenance tasks.  The Survey Technician will be shipping the samples back to Princeton University.

 

The contact for this project is:

 

Michael Bender

Princeton University

Tel: (609) 258-2936 

E-mail: bender@geo.princeton.edu

 

 

2.06      Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) Analysis

 

A 0.5 liter sea water sample will be collected from the surface at whole degree CTD casts between 8N and 8S for later dissolved inorganic carbon analysis.  Scripps Institute of Oceanography will provide sample jars and mercury chloride solution.  It is anticipated that the Survey Technician, together with embarked scientific personnel will take the samples.  A small bench-top drill press is installed on the ship to assist with the bottle capping process.  Samples will be shipped to Scripps at the conclusion of KA-06-07.

 

The contacts for this project are:

 

Dr. Andrew Dickson                                          Dr. Richard Feely

Scripps Institution of Oceanography                     NOAA/PMEL

University of California, San Diego                       7600 Sand Point Way NE

Room 203 – Vaughan Hall                                   Seattle, Washington  98115

8675 Discovery Way

La Jolla, California 92037                                                           

Tel: (858) 534-2582                                                        Tel: (206) 526-6214

Email: adickson@ucsd.edu                                  E-mail: Richard.A.Feely@noaa.gov

 

 

2.07      Nutrient Samples

 

The Survey Technician shall collect a 30 ml surface water sample at each whole degree CTD cast for later nutrient analysis.  It is anticipated that the Survey Technician, together with other embarked scientific personnel will take the samples.  Sample bottles, ice packs, and a cooler will be provided by PMEL.  Samples are stored and shipped back to PMEL at the conclusion of cruise KA-06-07.  Analysis is done at PMEL for the CO2 program.

The contact for this project is:

 

Cathy Cosca

NOAA/PMEL

7600 Sand Point Way NE

Seattle, Washington  98115

Tel: (206) 526-6183

E-mail: cathy.cosca@noaa.gov

 

2.08      TAO-CO2 Moorings

 

The carbon group at PMEL has mounted sensors on moored buoys within the TAO Array to provide high-resolution time-series measurements of atmospheric boundary layer and sea surface CO2 partial pressure (pCO2).  These data are used to evaluate the temporal variability in air-sea CO2 fluxes and to assist in examining the mechanisms controlling CO2 fluxes.  The pCO2 systems will be replaced at 0° 170°W.

 

Project contacts:

 

Chris Sabine, NOAA/PMEL                                 Richard Feely, NOAA/PMEL

7600 Sand Point Way NE                                    7600 Sand Point Way NE

Seattle, Washington 98115                                  Seattle, Washington 98115

Tel: (206) 526-4809                                            Tel: (206) 526-6214

E-mail: Chris.Sabine@noaa.gov                            E-mail: Richard.A.Feely@noaa.gov

 

 

 

 

3.0        HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

 

NOAA Ship KA’IMIMOANA will operate in full compliance with all environmental compliance requirements imposed by NOAA. The Chief Scientist shall be responsible for complying with MOCDOC 15, Fleet Environmental Compliance #07, Hazardous Material and Hazardous Waste Management Requirements for Visiting Scientists, released July 2002.  The MOCDOC web site address is:

 

http://205.156.48.106/                                     

 

By Federal regulations and NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations policy, the ship may not sail without a complete inventory of all hazardous materials by name and the anticipated quantity brought aboard, MSDS and appropriate neutralizing agents, buffers, and/or absorbents in amounts adequate to address spills of a size equal to the amount of chemicals brought aboard and a chemical hygiene plan.  The amount of hazardous material arriving and leaving the vessel shall be accounted for by the Chief Scientist.  NOAA Ship KA’IMIMOANA Environmental Compliance Officer will work with the Chief Scientist to ensure that this management policy is properly executed, and that any problems are brought promptly to the attention of the Commanding Officer.

 

3.1        Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)

 

All hazardous materials require a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).  Copies of all MSDS’s shall be forwarded to the ship at least two weeks prior to sailing.  The Chief Scientist shall have copies of each MSDS available when the hazardous materials are loaded aboard.  Hazardous material for which the MSDS is not provided will not be loaded aboard.

 

3.2        HAZMAT Inventory

 

The Chief Scientist will complete a local inventory form, provided by the Commanding Officer, indicating the amount of each material brought onboard, and for which the Chief Scientist is responsible.  This inventory shall be updated at departure, accounting for the amount of material being removed, as well as the amount consumed in science operations and the amount being removed in the form of waste.  Where applicable, the amounts of neutralizing agents, buffers and absorbents brought onboard shall also be noted on the inventory.

 

3.3        HAZMAT Locker

 

The ship’s dedicated HAZMAT Locker contains two 45-gallon capacity flammable cabinets and one 22-gallon capacity flammable cabinet, plus some available storage on the deck.  Unless there are dedicated storage lockers (meeting OSHA/NFPA standards) in each van, all HAZMAT, except small amounts for ready use, must be stored in the HAZMAT Locker.

 

3.4        HAZMAT Spill Response

 

The scientific party, under the supervision of the Chief Scientist, shall be prepared to respond fully to emergencies involving spills of any mission HAZMAT.  This includes providing properly-trained personnel for response, as well as the necessary neutralizing chemicals and clean-up materials.  Ship’s personnel are not first responders and will act in a support role only, in the event of a spill.

 

3.5        Responsibilities

 

The Chief Scientist is directly responsible for the proper handling, both administrative and physical, of all scientific party hazardous wastes.  No liquid wastes shall be introduced into the ship’s drainage system.  No solid waste material shall be placed in the ship’s garbage.   Ancillary Projects shall properly train their personnel in hazardous material handling and disposal.

 

3.6        Ancillary Projects Hazardous Materials

 

1.  Mercuric Chloride solution                                          400 ml                          Scripps/PMEL

2.  Mercuric Chloride powder                                          30 g                              Scripps/PMEL

3.  CO2 cylinder                                                             2-AL30                         PMEL

4.  LithX                                                                       1-Pail                            PMEL

5.  Acetone                                                                    16 l                               MBARI

6.  CO2 cylinder                                                             7-K cylinders                 PMEL

 

 

Appendices:

A.  Operations Spreadsheet

B.       Trackline

C.      Mooring  Equipment  Weight  List