Ship Operations

San Jose State University Foundation, San Jose CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will support NSF funded research programs by providing a safe, efficient, and economical platform for studies conducted off the coast of central California, particularly in Monterey Bay at the head of the deep undersea Monterey canyon. This is year one of a five-year cooperative agreement, and in CY2005, 114 days out of 180 will be used to support five different NSF sponsored research programs. For each subsequent year of the cooperative agreement, funding is dependent upon the number of days at sea in support of NSF research, and budgets are renegotiated. The intellectual merit of the research programs being supported on the Point Sur have been determined and the ship serves as the platform for the NSF awards. The ship continues to serve scientists from other institutions around the world, as well as institutions associated with the Monterey Bay Crescent Ocean Research Consortium. Broader Impacts Although this is an operations grant, requesting funds for science support activities and not one that would conform easily to public outreach and education, there are several ways in which support of the R/V Point Sur operations will do exactly that. The Moss Landing Marine Laboratories has been successful in advancing the California State University's Center for Integrative Coastal Observation, Research and Education program (CI-CORE, http://www.mlml.calstate.edu/cicore/) and the Alliance for Coastal Technologies program (ACT, http://www.actonline.ws/). As a key partner in both these efforts MLML has been funded (at no cost to NSF) to provide instrumentation for the underway measurement of surface water parameters (temperature, salinity, fluorescence, oxygen, and turbidity) from a number of vessels, including the R/V Point Sur. As part of the CI-CORE program these data will be formatted and made available on their web site for educators, scientists, policy makers and the public. Issues to be overcome relate to securing Chief Scientist approval for this data distribution. Their hope is to demonstrate the utility of this approach and export methodologies to other UNOLS vessels such that a large number of ocean measurements taken as part of their normal science missions, can be linked into a network of ocean observations. This is an ambitious element of the CI-CORE program made possible through collaboration with Laboratories. Images from cruises, together with data will provide a unique opportunity to share in the science of discovery and the processes contributing to the variability of the coastal ocean. At MLML, this data and images will be used in support of a Teacher's Education Program, providing marine science curricula to local K-12 educators. Another element of their program is teaching cruises in which MLML and Consortium faculty schedule time aboard the R/V Point Sur for educational missions. Not only do Consortium campuses take part in these cruises, but MLML makes additional space available for local groups to participate as well. Every year, scores of students are provided with unique opportunities through the operation of the Point. Sur.