R/V Kilo Moana Ship Operations CY18-23

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

University of Hawaii seeks funds to continue operating R/V Kilo Moana, a research vessel owned by the US Navy and operated by University of Hawaii as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) Academic Research Fleet. This general purpose Ocean Class SWATH (Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull) research vessel's home port is Honolulu, Hawaii, making it the only ARF vessel based in the central North Pacific Ocean. This location provides proximity to research sites in the central and western Pacific, with transit costs more than a week less than ships based on the US West coast. A particular focus of research using R/V Kilo Moana is the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) site at Station ALOHA, an important site for study of biogeochemistry, oceanography, climate and plankton ecology and microbiology processes in the oligotrophic subtropical North Pacific Ocean (http://hahana.soest.hawaii.edu/hot/). The 30-year HOT program stands as a landmark achievement in US ocean research, and Station ALOHA has been recognized as a "Milestones in Microbiology Site" by the American Society for Microbiology. Research at Ocean Station ALOHA was a key element in the award of support by NSF for the Center for Microbial Ocean Research and Education (C-MORE) as a Science and Technology Center of Excellence at UH, and in the selection of HOT co-founder David Karl as a Fellow of the National Academy of Science. Research at HOT has advanced our understanding of ocean nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus cycles, and the extraordinary time-series of ocean pH from Station ALOHA (Dore, et al, 2009 - http://www.pnas.org/content/106/30/12235.full) documents both the seasonal variability and the decadal increase in upper ocean acidification here, correlated closely to the well-known changes in CO2 in the atmosphere on nearby Mauna Kea. R/V Kilo Moana provides access to the sea to any US researcher funded by NSF or another US Federal agency. The stable SWATH design provides access to researchers who would otherwise be unable to sail due to seasickness, as vessel motion is much less than on a standard "mono-hull" vessel. The ship carries state-of-the-art systems for seafloor mapping, and UH is completing trials of Lu'ukai, UH's new 6000-meter ROV that will support deep submergence science from Kilo Moana at Station ALOHA, in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (Northwest Hawaiian Islands), and throughout the Pacific. Kilo Moana supports NSF Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) site and many other educational opportunities for students, funded both by Federal agencies and SOEST This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.