A request is made by the University of Washington to fund additional and replacement instrumentation for the R/V Thompson, a 274? general purpose, global class research vessel, and R/V Barnes, a 66-foot coastal research vessel, both operated as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System research fleet. These platforms provide facilities for conducting oceanographic research funded by the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies. The instrumentation they propose to acquire will provide operational flexibility to projects that are embarked upon both vessels, will address some deficiencies noted during the fall 2011 NSF vessel inspections, and will increase their capacity to do useful science and data collection during transits between funded cruises.. In order of priority, they propose to purchase the following:
1. Anritsu MS2821B spectrum analyzer $13,487 2. Mystaire FE-2620 ductless fume hoods (2 each) $8,951 3. McLane large volume in situ samplers WTS-LV04 (4 each) $129,558 4. Oceansciences Group underway CTD $79,258 5. SBE911plus serial uplink modifications and upgrade (3 each) $15,319 Total $246,573
Broader Impacts: The principal impact of the present proposal is under criterion two, providing infrastructure support for scientists to use the vessel and its shared-use instrumentation in support of their NSF-funded oceanographic research projects (which individually undergo separate review by the relevant research program of NSF). The acquisition, maintenance and operation of shared-use instrumentation allows NSF-funded researchers from any US university or lab access to working, calibrated instruments for their research, reducing the cost of that research, and expanding the base of potential researchers.
Intellectual Merit The University of Washington’s School of Oceanography operates the UNOLS vessels R/V Thomas G. Thompson and R/V Clifford A. Barnes. These platforms provide facilities for conducting oceanographic research funded by the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies. The instrumentation we acquired with this award will contribute to operational flexibility for projects that are embarked upon both vessels. In particular, we obtained A) serial uplink capability upgrades to our three Sea-Bird Electronics SBE911plus ctd systems, which increase our capacity to do useful science and data collection by interfacing other scientists’ instrumentation directly with our ctd packages; and B) a portable, high-end spectrum analyzer to troubleshoot and maintain satellite communications links and tracking antennae on the Thompson. The ctd serial uplink modifications to the SBE911plus will improve our field sampling capabilities. The spectrum analyzer will improve ship-to-shore satellite communications reliability, enabling onboard Shipboard Science Support Group personnel to maintain proper HiSeasNet antenna tracking and do in-house swapping between C-band and Ku-band components as required for different science missions. Broader Impacts The data collected from the instrumentation requested in this proposal can be utilized by scientific research teams studying complex biological, chemical, physical and geological ocean processes within Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean basin. The knowledge gained from these basic scientific studies has practical applications ranging from maintaining the health of Puget Sound to understanding of the impacts of global climate changes and promotes the sustainable utilization of both living and non-living marine resources. Many programs supported by NSF and other agencies create exciting new web-based instructional, interactive, and representational tools for educational and management purposes. For example, the local Regional Scale Nodes program within the Ocean Observatory Initiative is planning to make data available over the internet near-real time from both their own instruments and from the ship’s data collected while using the Thompson every year for the next 10-20 years. Serial data uplink upgrades: We had several requests over the last three years about whether our SeaBird Electronics SBE911plus ctd systems could accept a serial data stream from user-provided instruments and incorporate it into the data flow on the conducting cable, but we did not have that capability. Seabird developed a means to transmit a serial data stream up the main conducting CTD wire that is in addition to the standard 9plus data stream. This feature is now standard on new SBE9plus and SBE11plus deck sets. Though this option has been available for several years now, it had been thought that the length of the cable (up to ~10,000 m) on most global class UNOLS ships was too long to allow this feature to work properly. However, in tests conducted jointly by SeaBird and the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory, it was determined that this feature can work on cable lengths up to 10,000 m. This upgrade involved a factory-installed modification to both the underwater and the deck units of the SBE911plus system. We have three such systems, two used on the Thompson and one used on the Barnes. We requested funds to make this upgrade to all three systems to increase our flexibility to adapt to future cruise needs. For instance, lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP) work is just one sampling method that can significantly benefit from the uplink capability. Any serial instrument that can operate at 9600 baud can use the uplink to transmit data to the ship real time; the connection on the 9plus also supplies power at 12 V in addition to serial data transfer. Portable spectrum analyzer: We purchased an Anritsu MS2721B portable spectrum analyzer. During satellite communications system maintenance visits by the company field technician, he provided training to UW personnel so they could convert the antenna between C-band and Ku-band configurations without requiring on-site help from him. A spectrum analyzer is a required tool to facilitate diagnosing and repairing satellite connectivity issues, and he has assisted us in using it effectively. It is used to look at the signals to and from the satellite, and this information helps ensure the antenna feed (the transmitter and receiver on the antenna dish) is aligned properly and has proper polarity. To perform the antenna conversion between the different bands, a portable spectrum analyzer that can be used inside the antenna radome is necessary. The spectrum analyzer is also utilized to locate the proper satellite if we lose the link during course changes or ship operations and to verify the transmit power level of the ship’s equipment, which is monitored regularly throughout the day in order to be a responsible user of the bandwidth shared with other UNOLS vessels.
