Executive Summary-
The spring 2010 meeting of the Arctic Icebreaker
Coordinating Committee, (AICC) was held on April 27 and 28, 2010. This meeting was held at the Consortium for
Ocean Leadership in
Washington
D.C.
Welcome and
Introductions
Robin Muench, AICC Chair, called the meeting to order and
introductions were made around the room. The minutes from the meeting held in Seattle on December 8-9, 2009 were
accepted as written. A review of the
Action items was conducted.
General Business and
reports
AICC Report- Robin Muench-Chair Report-see power point
presentation in Appendices. Robin Muench led with a meeting schedule review and
provided details on several AICC topics which included:
- Shipboard
Issues on the Polar Sea and Healy
- Planning
and Logistics Issues
- Ongoing
Challenges
- Communications
with Native Alaskan Communities
- Preview
of 2010 cruises
- Polar Star and the 62 million
dollar refit
UNOLS Report-
Jon Alberts, UNOLS Executive Secretary, provided a UNOLS report on recent activities
for the UNOLS Office. Included in the Power Point presentation was a review of
the UNOLS staffing and recent efforts, UNOLS Council highlights, details on the
regional class research vessel and the ocean class research vessel
updates. The UNOLS goal to “Green the
Fleet” was described. Also details on a new standing committee within UNOLS is
the Ocean Observing Science Committee. The UNOLS Charter will be revised and
re-adopted in 2010. Also details on the DESSC, FIC, RVTEC, MLSOC, and the SSC
committees was given.
Agency Report
USGS
Deb Hutchinson of USGS provided an extensive explanation in
her presentation on the Law of the Sea Extended Continental Shelf seismic
surveys. She described the technology and challenges, the two-ship operation
with the CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent and the USCG Healy as well as the
schedule for the upcoming cruises
NOAA
Kathy Crane/ NOAA gave a presentation on:” Highlights from
RUSALCA 2009 Project”. She discussed in detail issues on sea ice extent, the
2009 station locations, cruise objectives, highlights and successes. Preliminary data on the impact to benthic
life, migration, and biodiversity was provided.
Larry Mayer- Update on Arctic Extended Continental Shelf
Mapping Activities, Details on the Healy August 2009 cruise with the CCGS Louis
St. Laurent were given with multibeam data shown from the cruise
Mineral Management
Service
Ron Lai presented a presentation for MMS with a focus on the
science missions for MMS, what the current scientific questions were and what
the focus will be. This included a review of the planned Chukchi Sea Studies.
Also covered were trends in physical oceanography, meteorology, sea ice and
modeling. A physical oceanography study
in the Chukchi Sea will be done with funding provided by Shell and Conoco.
National Ice Center
Caryn Panowicz reported that NIC provides ice imagery to
AICC and we expect to continue in the future. There are issues in transmitting data to to the ships. NIC recommends planning as early as
possible. They have a limited staff and
this is an issue. Radar Sat 1 & 2 should be available this year. NIC relies
on funding from National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). X Band radar imagery should be available.
.
USCG Reports
Lisa Mack provided
the report on the USCG. She informed AICC that Mike Krause would be her
replacement in June. See Power Point presentation in appendices.
The Coast Guard priorities that impact the AICC are to get
budget authority back within the CG in 2010, but our spending plan has already
been decided. Current MOA is only for 2010. In 2011 NSF will hold budget
authority again.
Polar Star is
undergoing a reactivation which would add 7-10 years of service life.
CG will be conducting a high latitude study and business
case analysis. CG is working with other
government agencies to help define this new mission.
Kathy Crane offered that NOAA is asked quite often if NOAA
will be getting into ice breakers. Should we be looking outside the Coast Guard to support Arctic research?
Rajiv Khandpur offered that the Healy will continue to be a science platform, this will not change
and science will continue to be an important piece.
Two audits occurred in the past year on CG Arctic Operations, and on the polar icebreakers.
1) The GAO Audit reviewed the Coast Guard's Arctic operations in general (briefly mentioning the icebreaker fleet, but moving well beyond it).
Their report stated the Coast Guard lacks adequate infrastructure or equipment in the Arctic and that its funding for such programs faces
uncertainty. It also stated the CG needs to communicate its overall Arctic strategy.
2) DHS OIG reviewed the CG polar icebreaker fleet specifically. The report made several recommendations regarding determining the best
uses for the icebreakers; developing a way forward for the CG icebreaker program and requesting resources for polar operations. The Coast
Guard will work with the Administration to address these recommendations.
Jonathan Berkson- USCG update
A Coast Guard representative was added to the Extended
Continental Shelf task force.
Jonathan stressed that it is important to remember that NOAA
and CG are cooperating agencies. There
is an environmental assessment underway with a draft report on ice breaker
noise. This study is titled: US
Geological Society Coastal and Marine Geology Report on Cooperative Agreement, GO9AC00352, Noise Levels Generated by
Research Icebreakers and Marine Seismic Sources in the Deepwater Arctic Ocean. .
The link to this report is: http://cetus.ucsd.edu/Reports/RothMPLTM-527-2010.pdf.
There may be some precedent setting documents on ice
breaking noise coming out soon which will impact science operations. AICC will want to give input on these studies.
National Ice Center Memorandum of Agreement renewal coming
in July 2010.
Pacific Area Report
Greg Somers provided a Power Point presentation on Pacific
Area (
Alameda
and Seattle)
Operations as well as District 17. They are still waiting congressional approval
on CG modernization.
No current foreign research requests in the Arctic so far.
The new policy for foreign visitors was discussed in detail.
Foreign scientists have to be cleared by CG and it must first come through the
foreign embassy of the country where the person is from. It is then entered
into the SPAN system. We have run into some problems if cruise is not a
government sponsored cruise. This has just started so there are some
problems. Clearance is not guaranteed.
We recommend you get extra people cleared as it can take 20-30 days. This will be required for every cruise.
There is one person at HQ who is doing this, so it takes
several weeks to get this approval. I don’t see this policy being reversed.
SPAN will not go away.
Kathy Crane/NOAA offered that they go through this with the
RUSALCA program and nearly every science cruise has at least one foreign
national.
Phil McGillivary added that he is looking at this and he has
had discussion with Liz Tirpak at the State Dept.
Greg continued the discussion with the proposed schedules
for FY11 for the Polar Sea and the Healy. The Healy window for science
ops in 2011 is 26 May to 02 July. NSF/OPP has proposals for this window.
Update on the R/V
Sikuliaq-
Steve Hartz/ UAF presented a Power Point on the progress
made to date on the Sikuliaq. Some
details of various ship’s equipment was shown. This included the A-frame which
will lay down (inboard) to be able to install blocks of opportunity. The ship
has been lengthened by 12 ft which will accommodate a flume tank, no impact to
superstructure. Two multibeams, (EM302
& EM710), two ADCP’s (75 & 150), with a well for a 38 kHz ADCP are
planned. Also a sub-bottom profiler with multiple frequencies.
Z-Drives configured in tractor-mode are now planned which
will be more ice efficient.
Science operations are planned for 2013. The ship will be
Polar Class 5- IMO specs. ABS will approve.
Operations,
Scheduling and Planning for 2011 and beyond
Greg Stanclik/ USCG Engineering and Project Section Chief
presented a Power Point highlighting the polar engineering update-
Healy- just
delivered back from the shipyard which was completed in March 2010.
Work was completed on the multibeam sonar installation,
propeller shafts, and shaft tubes were pulled and inspected with no surprises.
Polar Sea- A
dry-docking is planned from May to July 2010. One concern is the davit that was
installed for the inflatable boat. It
was a failed prototype. Plan to move davit aft.
Polar Star- We
have $57 million to bring the Polar Star back up to operational status.
The hull, mechanicals, and electrical will use most of the
57 million. A team is looking at entire systems. This will include inspections,
cleaning of main motors, servicing of the controllable pitch propellers and
bringing all electrical systems up to date.
Will be in the shipyard at Todd Shipyard from 17 May through
17 Nov 2010, then April 2011 to Sept 2011 will be for dockside work.
The $57 million didn’t have anything for science, that will
need to go in FY2012 budget.
Healy 2010-2011 Cruise and Schedule Updates
Dave Forcucci/USCG presented a Healy 2010 overview in a Power Point.
Current plan is to do a shakedown cruise in May off
Honolulu
, then the NASA
cruise, the ECS cruise, and the Pickart cruise. The Coakley cruise was
postponed due to seismic issues. NSF realized we couldn’t get a seismic system
in time, plus the permitting issue complicated things. Coakley is concurred
with this decision. The Pickart leg will service the HARP moorings (instead of
the ECS cruise as in past years.) Pickart will need a Canadian clearance.
2011 Healy- There
are 3 programs that are funded for Healy which include NASA 30 days. Then the NSF/OPP- Coakley requests for 26 days in
September, followed by
NOAA/OAR- ECS cruise, 39 days. Pickart is also funded to turn around
moorings.
Polar Sea 2010
Phil McGillivary/USCG gave a Power Point highlighting:
Recent Issues: Swab tests on the Polar Sea indicated a contamination issue which was cleaned
up. There was also some multi-core
damage which has not yet been resolved.
A review of the PSEA -01-10 BEST (Bering Sea Ecosystem
Study) Cruise was given issues- PSEA 01-10
C130 (Arctic domain awareness) flights began two weeks ago
in mid-April. Last year we did AXT+CTD deployments for Jamie Morison (UW/APL)
and we will continue to do the CO2 and methane monitoring for Colm
Sweeney. We are planning to install a
Maslanik Lidar inside a C130 to measure ice and open water as well as ice
ridging.
Interaction with
Others- Clearances, permits, native communities
Lee Cooper discussed recent efforts in science initiated
public outreach and the issue of how does science budget for these outreach
efforts. In January 2010 Cooper and
Grebmeier attended meetings in Savoonga. A large group of people turned out in
force to hear about the science, ask questions and we learned who to talk to.
In February 2010, Carin Ashjian attended AEWC meetings in
Barrow AK.
There was more discussion on where the funds to cover travel
for PI’s to do outreach in Alaska and the idea of bringing a representative
down to Seattle was discussed.
Jonathan Berkson mentioned that he has heard that there is
some confusion with too many people visiting and we need more of a focused
effort.
Robin Muench added that there are different ways we can
structure this, such as inviting them to Seattle or perhaps go up as a team.
This past year Carin Ashjian did the coordination.
Healy Foreign Clearances in the EEZ
For 2010, there is a NASA cruise proposed to do a Bering
Strait transit, but we missed the deadline for to request foreign clearance in
Russian waters.
HLY 1002 and 1003 requests for Canada have been submitted
Industry Activities- There was no response from Shell after
our discussion held at the AICC meeting in December 2009.
NSF/OPP Arctic Report
Renee Crain/ OPP gave an overview of recent activities
within NSF/ OPP. The logistic support program is putting people in the Arctic
and Antarctic with approximately 150 programs a year, which includes Greenland
and the North Pole. Pat Haggerty/NSF/OPP-
works on facilities and large projects. The subcontractor, CH2M Hill handles logistics in Barrow and is our
science liaison on the ground. There are
3 sections within NSF involved in ship operations, the Arctic, Antarctic, and
Geo/Ocean Sciences.
NSF/OPP provides funding to UNOLS for the AICC and AICC
provides that input back into NSF. The portable vans are funded through Jim
Holik and Matt Hawkins in NSF’s Ocean Sciences.
CPS (CH2MHill Polar Services) is contracted to provide
logistics support, but not directly ship support, although last year they did
provide some support to the ships. We want a small group of people responsible
to support/do cruise planning.
NSF/OPP is writing a solicitation for proposals to bridge
the gap for science support in the Arctic. We hope they will work with UNOLS infrastructure and bring it to the
Arctic. It will be released in a few weeks. NSF/OPP wants people to call and
ask for expectations to the proposal. We expect to make an award sometime in
fall of 2010.
On the Barrow support, BASC had been science support
contractor, but NSF decided to cancel their cooperative agreement and now are
using CH2MHill (CPS). CPS does use BASC to do work for them.
Steve Hastings from CH2MHill called in from Barrow and
presented a Power Point. He highlighted
areas of support they can provide including communications with AEWC and Barrow
Whaling Captains Assoc.
Native Observer
Program
The Barrow community would like to have someone on the ship
during cruises so NSF started it a few years ago. It was designed to be a short
term thing. NSF/OPP has been working on a position description for the
observer. NSF will fund CH2MHill/BASC to pay for these observers and there will
be a planned budget.
Marine mammal observers are now called Protective Resource
Observers. It is important that the observers be brought into the fold early on
and integrated into the science party.
On the medical issue, we are having a lot discussion on
this. We want to make regulations based on risk and don’t think we want to go
down the same path as the Antarctic medical clearance process. Our records show
most medevacs are injuries, not part of the medical clearance process. NSF will
come back with what NSF policy will be and for now we sign on to Coast Guard
screening process. It was noted that UNOLS/RVOC is looking at this right now
and will be making some recommendations.
On the Polar Sea science equipment recommendations, we put them into a spreadsheet so that we
could prioritize them. JMS is also looking at the ship’s science systems and will
provide an independent view to combine with the Coast Guard evaluation and then
we will move forward.
Science
modifications, infrastructure and equipment/Healy
Dale Chayes and Dave Forcucci provided an update on various
ship systems on the Healy. (See
Dale’s power Point Presentation.)
The Healy multibeam replacement, first proposed in 2003, is now finished and installed.
It has been run twice and the acceptance test will be done on the transit from
Honolulu
to
Dutch
Harbor
.
The new system is a Kongsberg EM 122. We removed the old
Seabeam 2112 transmit and receive arrays. The Science watchstanders work
station now new monitors in the same location as the old SeaBeam monitors but
the system is very different and will require some re-education/training. The
proposed acceptance testing and system characterization time was cut from the
proposed 20 days to 5 days, this will impact the ability to understand the
system as installed on Healy. The integration with real-time data output is
being worked on now.
Other science modification for 2010 will be the bow boom for
the optical mast required by NASA and the stern tube water sipper (also for
NASA._ After the 2010 Healy season
other projects will include:
Acoustic Communications
Replacement ADCP150 which we borrowed from Steve Hartz for
2010 season.
New TSG/PCO2 locations
Computer winch renovation
Mooring Winch
Winch/wire monitor upgrade- needs to be upgraded to become
complaint with Appendix A of the UNOLS Research Vessel Safety Standards, (RVSS)
Potential Berthing Modifications- The CG is looking at a
plan to convert 7 berths /rooms to improve privacy and habitability. This would
increase the science capacity to 53. The CG is asking for AICC input on this.
Some issues identified in the discussion were the need for sound proofing in
bulkheads and possibly adding a sliding door at end of bunks
so there is a separate berthing compartment. Also the question was asked if a science
party size of 53 is too many. We need
to be concerned with wire time, outreach issues, taking bunks away form the CG
has implications as we lose some training capabilities.
AICC will look at the berthing plan and provide some input.
ESU Report
The computers were upgraded on the POLAR SEA/STAR and cloned
onto system at ESU to enable ESU to work on shipboard system. They are now
fully ESU supported.
On the Healy we
will have VSAT SYSTEM for 24/7 Internet connectivity
dedicated to science programs. Unknown at what latitude it
will cut off.
Open
Port
Iridium will also be
available with up to 129 bits per second real-time transmission rates.
Other Issues
Radiation Safety Oversight- On this upcoming NASA cruise we
will have two “Rad” vans. Scripps has offered to do the oversight work for this
year’s rad use. Until a new science support contractor is awarded.
MATE intern from
Humboldt
College
will be on the Healy for the Pickart cruise and working
under Pickart’s supervision .
Ice Imagery- We are working with NIC to come up with
improved support for ice imagery. They
are looking at our cruise tracks on Icefloe. It would be very helpful to get
ice coverage for the whole area we are working in, not just the cruise track of
the day. Raw data would also be useful to the scientists and NIC can provide
this. Some NIC issues we are working on are: lack of timely responses,
stability of product produced and sometimes geo referencing is off.
Icefloe.net- UNOLS is continuing to support the icefloe web
site and Tom Cook is still doing the back end stuff.
Review of Action
Items-
Robin Muench discussed the foreign visitors issue- Arctic
research will always be international in nature, and I would like to recommend
the CG develop a means by which the CG could internally process these requests,
without going through the the visitors embassy.
Greg Somers will take it to HQ and see what can be done to
improve the process for us.
It is an area of concern for AICC.
The health screening and rule that no pregnant women will be
allowed aboard ship needs to be communicated up front. It is on Icefloe.net. It was suggested that if an NSF PI is
pregnant then we will delay her field work a year so that she can go at a later
time.
Resuming the PACAREA visit with the Admiral by AICC was
discussed. Greg Somers will try and set something up when the new admiral comes
on next month,
28 April 11:50 Meeting adjourned