Minutes of
9-10 July 2002
NSF Headquarters,
Participants: Bob Beardsley, Dan Costa, Eileen Hofmann, Peter Wiebe, Meng Zhou, Alice Doyle (RPSC),
Karl Newyear (RPSC), Polly Penhale (NSF), Deneb Karentz (NSF), Bernie Lettau (NSF),
Al Sutherland (NSF), Robin Muench (NSF)
Tuesday, 9 July (Morning)
The fourth meeting of the Science Steering Committee (SSC) for the U.S. Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (SO GLOBEC) was started with a welcome from Eileen Hofmann. She introduced Meng Zhou from the University of Massachusetts-Boston who agreed to fill in for Jose Torres (SSC member) who was unable to attend the meeting. She also mentioned that Robin Meunch would be sitting in on some of the SSC meeting since he was a SO GLOBEC science investigator prior to taking a position as a rotator for the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
The first topic on the agenda for the SSC meeting was overviews of the 2002 SO GLOBEC cruises, which included the mooring recovery/deployment cruise in February and the April-May survey and process cruises. The first presentation, made by Meng Zhou, was on the L.M. Gould process cruise (LMG02-03).
Zhou gave an
overview that was structured around the different process study sites that were
occupied during LMG02-03. He said that a
high priority on this cruise was ensuring that the marine mammal and penguin
work could be done. As a result, the
first study site was in
Numerous activities took place at the process sites and Zhou briefly described these. Details of the activities can be found in the cruise report from LMG02-03 (U.S. SO GLOBEC Report Number 5). Other special activities that took place during the cruise were directed at understanding vertical migration of Antarctic krill and inter-calibration of the acoustic backscatter measured by the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) mounted on the Gould and that measured by the HTI system being operated by Kendra Daly and her group.
Zhou said that it became clear during the cruise that mesoscale flow structures such as eddies were important in determining the distribution of krill. As a result, effort was placed into mapping these features with the ADCP and hydrographic measurements. He noted that the predators (e.g., seals and whales) coincided with regions where krill were abundant and aggregated. Krill under the sea ice tended to be more diffuse.
Zhou said that for future cruises the Gould needs to be equipped with a better depth finder. The current depth finder on the ship is not good in shallow water. This caused problems when the Gould encountered rapidly shallowing topography. Another part of the depth finding issue is to get better communication between the science groups and the bridge. The failure to do this resulted in one net tow during LMG02-03 sampling the bottom. Zhou closed his presentation by thanking the Raytheon Polar Services Company personnel and the crew of the L.M. Gould for excellent support during LMG02-03.
The next presentation, which was made by Peter Wiebe, was on the April-May survey cruise on the N.B. Palmer, NBP02-02. Wiebe started by going over the cruise objectives, which are the same as from the two 2001 survey cruises. He described the highlights of the hydrographic, meteorological and biological measurements made during the cruise and indicated that details for each study undertaken during the cruise are in the report from NBP02-02 (U.S. SO GLOBEC Report Number 6). Wiebe also said that a project funded by the NSF Office of Polar Programs outside of the core SO GLOBEC program participated in NBP02-02. This project is designed to get quantitative information on backscattering target strength that will be used for calibration and analysis of acoustic backscatter data taken in Antarctic waters. He indicated that this project was successful and that the preliminary results have yielded different target strengths for different types of animals.
Wiebe also said
that SeaBeam data were taken during NBP02-02, edited by the cruise
participants, and merged with the previous SO GLOBEC SeaBeam data. The result is that a good description of the
bottom bathymetry in the SO GLOBEC study area is starting to emerge. Wiebe said that the intent is to include the
SO GLOBEC bathymetry with other SeaBeam bathymetry data sets from the west
Bob Beardsley
next gave an overview of the 2002 mooring recovery and redeployment
cruise. He said that all but one of the
current meter moorings deployed in 2001 were recovered and that the data return
from the moorings was good. He said that
three moorings were redeployed across the entrance to
The passive
acoustic moorings deployed in 2001 by the cetacean studies group (Hildebrand
from Scripps Institution of Oceanography) were also retrieved and redeployed
during the 2002 mooring cruise.
Beardsley showed results from one of the passive acoustic moorings that
recorded calls from blue whales. An
initial interpretation of these data is that there are more blue whales in the
Beardsley next
showed results from the two Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) that were deployed
on islands in Marguerite Bay during the 2001 April-May survey cruise. These weather stations are working well and the
data return is good. Comparison of the
AWS winds to those measured at Rothera Station on
Beardsley
described what he and colleagues have been doing to develop a bathymetry data
set for the SO GLOBEC study region. The
bathymetry data available from the
The next steps are to finalize the bathymetry data for the study region and make a gridded data set that can be provided to program investigators. Beardsley said that the intent is to also make special maps for some areas of interest, such as regions where there are numerous predators. To date, the cost of preparing the data set has been absorbed by Beardsley's SO GLOBEC funds. However, he mentioned that he has now submitted a supplemental request to NSF Office of Polar Programs to support the cost of finishing the bathymetry data base.
Beardsley said that the decision was made early in the SO GLOBEC program to make the bathymetry data base public, He said that this has made other investigators reluctant to have their bathymetry data included in the larger data set, even data sets that have exceeded the time limit set for public release set by NSF. Penhale said that this is an issue to bring up with Scott Borg when he joins the SSC meeting.
Afternoon
The discussion following lunch focused on logistics for the upcoming August-September process and survey cruise. The allocation of bunks on the two ships was the first item of discussion. Alice Doyle mentioned that there would be no IWC observers on the August-September survey cruise. She said the Debbie Thiele and John Hildebrand decided to not send people on this cruise for a variety of reasons. The decision to pull the one remaining observer off of the Palmer was made about one week ago. As a result, two bunks are open on the Palmer.
Members of the
SSC expressed surprise at the decision to not send a cetacean observer on the
cruise. This is regarded as an important
data set for the program and it is desirable to have it for all cruises. Dan Costa said that he may be able to provide
an individual from his laboratory to fill this position. However, if one of the other members of his
field team does not get medical clearance in time, he will need the extra
person for his group. He also mentioned that
he could contact some of his colleagues in
Al Sutherland
next mentioned that the Argentines have requested to send an observer on the SO
GLOBEC cruises. This is something they
can do as part of the agreement that allows
Karl Newyear
next went over berth allocations for the Gould. He said that there will be two berthing vans
on the north and south bound trips between
Doyle next urged everyone to remind their science party members to submit their TRW forms to the Raytheon travel department so that airline tickets can be issued. These forms are due two weeks (minimum) prior to departure. She also mentioned that there are still some people who have not been medically certified for the August-September cruises. She said that this had to be completed within the next week or the people would not be able to go on the cruise. The issue of medical clearance for the potential Chilean and Argentine scientists was raised. Doyle said that if these people are certified by their own institutions, then Raytheon can accept this and allow them to go on the cruise.
Doyle discussed changes made to the Palmer during the ship yard period between the two 2002 SO GLOBEC field periods. She said that the wet and dry labs had been redone with new furniture and racks, new wiring for computers was added, and the computer system upgraded. The thermosalinograph was moved to the back wall of the hydro lab and the seawater system redone. New fume hoods were installed in the labs. The AutoSals were moved to a new room in the back of the bio lab that should have better temperature control. Also, a moon pool was added and the SeaBeam system replaced with a Simrad multi-beam system. The new bathymetry mapping system should minimize ping editing. Several people expressed concern about getting the equipment working in time for the August-September survey cruise. Doyle said that the Palmer is now undergoing sea trials. She said that the modifications for the new multi-beam system were extensive and that the Simrad technical people were working on getting the system functional. Doyle said everyone is hopeful that it will work in time for the NBP02-04 cruise.
In response to a message from Kendra Daly, the possibility of using the new moon pool for diving was brought up. Sutherland and Doyle said this may be a possibility and it is something to consider. Sutherland suggested that ROV deployments could be made through the moon pool. However, a crane would be needed to move the ROV in and out of the moon pool. Doyle mentioned that the intake for the seawater system is now in the moon pool, which has circulating capability. She said this should minimize clogging of the seawater system by sea ice.
Doyle said that
some equipment needed for the cruise is still outstanding. However, she said that these items should
still be able to be shipped so that they will arrive in
Doyle said that the radiation van on the Gould has been upgraded so that it will not freeze. Costa asked if the water pipes on the Gould had been fixed/modified so that they will not freeze. He said that during the July-August 2001 cruise, they had lost time due to the pipes freezing and breaking. Also, the Captain of the Gould did not want to risk going further south because of the problems with the pipes. Newyear said that the Gould has just come out to dry dock, so the problem with the pipes may be fixed. Doyle said she would check on this. Sutherland said that part of the issue of freezing pipes is the low temperature for which the Gould is rated. He said that this is about -30 C.
Wiebe mentioned
that some of the equipment and supplies shipped back to the
The next issue
discussed was scheduling a joint ship meeting during the port call in
Doyle said that
it would be good to make presentations at the joint ship meeting about what was
found on previous SO GLOBEC cruises. She
said that there is a computer video projector on the Palmer and that she would bring this to the meeting so that PowerPoint
presentations can be made. Wiebe and
Costa said that they would put together an agenda for the joint cruise
meeting. It was also suggested that
there be a meeting between the Chief Scientists for the cruises (Wiebe and Costa),
the Captains of the Gould and Palmer and the MPCs (Shepard and Newyear)
for the two cruises in
After a short break, Scott Borg from the Geology and Geophysics program joined the SSC meeting for a discussion of the bathymetry data for SO GLOBEC. Beardsley briefly reviewed what had been done to date in constructing a bathymetry data set for the SO GLOBEC study region. Sutherland said that all bathymetry data available on the Palmer that is more than two years post collection should be in the public domain. Wiebe said that this is his understanding as well. Borg said that there can be exceptions to this policy, but that the science investigator has to request the exception from his/her program manager. He has not received any such requests.
Wiebe said that the SO GLOBEC program is now trying to finalize the bathymetry data for the study region. It would be desirable to include in the final product all of the available data. However, this is not possible since some investigators will not give permission for their data to be included. Wiebe stressed that the data will be in a merged and gridded data set and that this is the data that will be made public. This is much different from releasing the original data that are used to create the gridded product.
Beardsley said that he had submitted a supplement request to NSF to support finishing the development of a bathymetry data set for the SO GLOBEC program. Borg said that his program currently is considering a proposal to develop a Center that will handle all of the multi-beam bathymetry data collected during N.B. Palmer cruises, over the entire Antarctic. He requested that the SO GLOBEC bathymetry data be in a form that could go to this Center, if funded. Borg asked that Beardsley provide an assessment of what data are now unavailable that would of use to the SO GLOBEC program. Once he has this list, he can then contact individual science investigators and discuss release of the data sets. Beardsley said that he would get this information to Borg. The SSC thanked Borg for his interest and input.
The next topic
of discussion was the cruise plan that was developed during the SO GLOBEC
science investigator meeting that took place in December 2001. Wiebe started the discussion by showing the
draft plan. This plan was reviewed and
discussed and everyone felt that it was a reasonable approach. The sea ice in the study region is already extensive
and this presents an unknown in trying to set up a cruise plan because some
parts of the study region may be inaccessible.
The discussion led to the consensus that the time schedule would stay as
planned, but that the sites picked for various process studies may need to
move. One suggestion was that the work
in
Wiebe and others stressed that the extensive sea ice will require that the Gould and Palmer stay together more than was done during the 2001 winter cruises. The extensive sea ice will also very likely require that station locations be modified.
The issue of
doing special science projects as time and opportunity allow during the
August-September process and survey cruises was discussed. Beardsley said that he would like for time to
be dedicated to making microstructure measurements. This is potentially an important data set for
the entire program. The need for
mesoscale surveys around the Gould
process sites was again discussed. Costa
said that he would like to revisit the Emperor Penguin colony on
Beardsley asked about doing CTD casts on the Gould. He requested that the Gould do multiple vertical CTD casts for a 24-hour period to about 200 m to get information for analysis of fine structure in the upper water column. Costa said that they would try to make these measurements.
The SSC meeting was adjourned at 1715.
Wednesday, 10 July (Morning)
The SSC
reconvened and continued discussion of the draft cruise plan for the
August-September 2002 cruises. Wiebe had
done some calculations of steaming time and time on station for the survey cruise. These show that it should be possible to do
most of the survey grid. Some of the
inner shelf stations and those deep inside of
Hofmann said that the reports from all of the previous SO GLOBEC cruises can be put on CD and made available to each ship. This will provide everyone with background on what has occurred on previous cruises.
Polly Penhale
and Bernie Lettau (OPP program managers for SO GLOBEC) joined the SSC meeting
for a discussion of follow-on funding for synthesis and modeling activities in
SO GLOBEC. The SSC stressed the need for
continued funding to analyze the many data sets collected during the SO GLOBEC
program. The present funding for most of
the science investigators covers the field activities and only limited analysis. Penhale and Lettau said that they recognized
the need for a synthesis and modeling phase for SO GLOBEC, similar to what has
been done in other U.S. GLOBEC programs and in JGOFS. The SSC indicated that a synthesis phase for
SO GLOBEC should start in 2003, which will require proposals to be submitted to
NSF Office of Polar Programs in June 2003.
Penhale requested that the SSC provide a two-page document describing
the need for synthesis and modeling funding for SO GLOBEC. She and Lettau would
then take this and work within their programs to identify funds for this
effort. Hofmann said that the SSC would
have a document to Penhale and Lettau within a week. Penhale did say that an
announcement for synthesis and modeling activities would have to be open to a
community wider than just SO GLOBEC. The
SSC agreed with this and suggested that this type of announcement might provide
a mechanism for analysis of historical data sets and for developing
collaborations with SO GLOBEC investigators and Antarctic programs outside of
the
Wiebe said that the synthesis and modeling activities that took place as part of the Georges Bank GLOBEC program were funded at a level of about $2 million per year for four years. This is about half the cost of the funding for the field activities, exclusive of ship time costs. Penhale said that she and Lettau would work on a synthesis and modeling activity and keep the SSC informed of the progress. The SSC thanked them for their efforts and input to the meeting.
The SSC
discussed scheduling of the next science investigator meeting. Because this
meeting would not require input from the NSF program managers and NSF logistics
coordinators, the SSC decided that it could be held at a venue outside of the
The timing of the science investigator meeting was discussed extensively. The general consensus was to hold the meeting prior to the writing of proposals for synthesis and modeling activities. After trying several dates, 9-11 December was chosen. Hofmann said that she will send a message to all science investigators within a day or so notifying them of the meeting.
The structure of the meeting was next discussed. One possibility is to have a series of overview presentations and then break into smaller groups so that investigators can begin to analyze data sets and develop collaborative projects. The exact structure of the meeting will be decided over the next few months. Wiebe said that if we are going to work with data, it would be good to hold the meeting somewhere that has good internet capability so that participants will have access to data at their home institutions.
The schedule for
the special topics volume of Deep-Sea
Research devoted to results from the first SO GLOBEC was discussed. Hofmann said that the schedule has been
finalized with Elsevier and that it is posted on the SO GLOBEC web page. Manuscripts are due on
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned.