Category: UC San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceaongraphy

May 28, 2018

1530 local time

Happy Memorial Day!

It is a beautiful weekend, and I can’t think of a better place to be than sunny San Diego. The Revelle was back at the dock on Wednesday afternoon following a really short but eventful cruise. In the afternoon of our last full day at sea, the Jason engineers finally got the ROV in the water and took it all the way down to the seafloor some 4500 meters below. It was really cool to see them testing out the two arms on deck and running through all the various checks and “football float” attachments to the cable before the long descent.

After dinner, I went in the Jason control van and watched Jason land gently on the seafloor, kicking up plumes of sediment all around it. Multiple, high-definition camera displays allowed us to see the surrounding seafloor as the pilots white-balanced the 3D camera and used the arms to remove heavy, metal plates acting as ballast. During the dive, the engineers could also test the accuracy of the USBL to detect Jason’s position. It was really cool to be able to see the operation and to watch live feed from the deep ocean.

Since the Jason team were mostly operating independently, this left Matt and me free to prepare for upcoming cruises. I was able to update the inventory for the CTD, including all of the spare sensors and cables, as well as clean and defrost the science freezers in the various lab spaces. Had it been warmer out on deck, I would have suggested a snowball fight with all the frost I managed to scrape off.

Matt and I also terminated the 0.322 CTD cables for the Desh 5 and Cast 6 winches. Matt printed out the instructions for me to review, and it was really beneficial for me to work through a different procedure from that at WHOI, but still arrive at the same result, which is a successfully insulated and communicative connection between the deck box and CTD. I also got to use an automatic wire stripper for the first time and found myself wondering why anyone bothers with any other style. Instead of the Scotchcote mold used on the Armstrong, we made our soldered connections water tight by carefully wrapping a layer of vulcanizing tape and electrical tape, and then brushing on some Scotchcote compound. It made the process a lot quicker, so you can easily re-terminate if there are any problems during science operations.

After we arrived back in port, the first two days were incredibly busy. All of the Jason accessories needed to get packed away in various storage holds and two containers needed to be moved to the bow of the ship and secured. We also needed to bring on the CTD carousel and rosette and some huge equipment for coring operations on the upcoming cruise. I also got a chance to work with Kelsey on attaching two Niskin bottles to the frame of a multicore sampler in a way that would ensure the bottles are tripped when the multicore tubes are also triggered. This took some engineering on our part, especially as the bottles themselves weren’t even in working condition yet and had to have various replacements made. I think it will work, but we will see!

In addition to all of the equipment preparation, moving, and securing, they also had to move the Sproul from it’s docked position in order to make way for the Sally Ride. On Friday, they sailed her over and ended up side-tying her to the Revelle and running a power cable and gangway from the Sproul to the Revelle.

Overall, it was a very busy but rewarding week, and I am glad I got to assist in some of the preparation operations for the upcoming cruises. Next up for me is a quick trip out on the Sally Ride, leaving this upcoming Friday, supporting the NSF GEOPATHS initiative for hands-on training and research experience for students in geoscience. I am looking forward to assisting in the collection of sediment samples with the use of the multicore, and am also interested to catalogue the many similarities and differences between the Armstrong and the Ride as I have never sailed on sister ships before.

– Emily

May 20, 2018

1830 local time

Hi there!

I am not sure about you, but I have had a very busy week. When I last wrote, the R/V Neil Armstrong was just a few hours away from tying up in Reykjavik. In the final hours, Amy and I finished up the termination on the CTD, secured the underway systems and echosounders, and started the data transfer process while the pilot climbed aboard and guided the ship in.

Joe met us once we went through the immigration process, and he and I tried our best to waterproof a security camera monitor for the gangway watch stander as there was no port security on this specific dock. Our delay getting in meant that he was not the only one waiting to board. We had a full science crew who started moving on almost immediately. Thankfully, I had already packed my duffel and moved it out of the way. After the rough seas we had all transit, it was a nice feeling to be on solid ground again. The crew celebrated the arrival that night and less than 24 hours later, I was on a flight to San Diego to board the R/V Roger Revelle and begin my time at Scripps.

The Shipboard Technical Support (STS) team at Scripps is a well-oiled machine headed by some very cool and seasoned people. Within the team are a Geophysical group, Oceanographic Data Facility group, Computer Technicians, and Resident Technicians. On the morning after I arrived, the staging area next to the dock was a hotbed of activity. This worked out for me, because I was able to jump right in and help the Geophysical group load vans with new equipment and gear and met a lot of the team members in the process.

Being closer to home also means that I am closer to some of my family. My dad is a UCSD alumnus and I was able to take him and my stepmother on a tour of the Revelle and give them a better understanding of what I hope to be doing for a career once the internship ends. Roger Revelle was a household name when I was growing up due to his innovative and influential work, so it was a real treat for my dad to set foot on the ship named in his honor.

This ship has an impressive history and she is incredibly active throughout the year. For the next few days, we are off the coast of San Diego to complete a series of engineering tests for the ROV Jason, in preparation for a packed summer of OOI cruises. Being a day late, I missed the mobilization of Jason and all his accessories. However, it has been pretty cool to watch the operations and assist when I can. So far, this has included setting up the ultra-short base line (USBL) system, which will help calculate Jason’s subsea position and required mounting and lowering a pipeline down a well that led straight from the deck to the ocean below. Thankfully, no bolts, tools, or cell phones were lost in this effort.

Jason has an amazing engineering team traveling aboard right now, so they do not need much assistance from the technicians. When we are not needed for operations, I have had the chance to familiarize myself with the ship and learn more about the responsibilities and skillsets of a resident technician from my new mentor Matt. I have had the chance to assist in crane operations and putting an asset over the side as well as an XBT launch – love those! On the Armstrong, a flow-through SSVS system provided sound velocity profile data to the EM122 multibeam. Here on the Revelle, the XBT probe profiles are uploaded for the EM122 to reference. The science team can request one launch per day and the portable laptop/deck box system the technicians created makes this a very simple operation.

Hopefully, the weather will improve and allow the Jason team to get their testing satisfactorily completed during the next couple days. Even though this is my only cruise on the Revelle, I think it is an exciting one, and I am looking forward to seeing Jason piloted through the water. My next post will be back in port during cruise preparations for R/Vs Roger Revelle, Sally Ride, and Robert Gordon Sproul – oh my! See you then.

 – Emily