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Tower Assembly

John Lund and Mike McCarthy assemble the tower for the new Pioneer MAB Shallow Water Mooring.  The tower will hold data telemetry modules and aids to navigation such as GPS, lights, and radar reflectors.  

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Expanded and Upgraded NSIF

Expanded and Upgraded!  WHOI mechanical engineer Dan Duffany, with input from the OOI-CGSN team, designed the new Near-Surface Instrument Frame – Large (NSIF-L, right).  The NSIF-L will be deployed on the Pioneer MAB Central Surface Mooring and will accommodate the original OOI instrumentation as well as the new Imaging Flow Cytobot, particle size, and turbidity…

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On Way to Ship

On their way.  Here Kris Newhall, Jim Ryder, and Chris Basque, with support from WHOI Facilities, remove the Pioneer MAB Coastal Surface Moorings from their stands, tip and secure the buoy for transport to the WHOI dock.  The next step will be loading the buoys on the RV Neil Armstrong.

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Ready for Mobilization

Three Pioneer MAB Coastal Surface Moorings, along with their Near Surface Instrument Frame (NSIF) and Multi-Function Node (MFN) and risers, operating and collecting test data prior to mobilization on the RV Neil Armstrong.  The moorings operate for several days to test all systems, including data delivery to the OOI Cyberinfrastructure, prior to deployment.

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New Sensors Added

Meghan Donohue and Mike Robinson complete the build of a Multi-Function Node (MFN) prior to transportation to the WHOI dock for loading.  The MFN is the seabed instrument platform at all the Pioneer MAB Coastal Surface Mooring locations.  New additions to the MFN include turbidity and particle size sensors.

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Compass Calibration

Jennifer Batryn, Nikki Arm, Irene Duran, and Ellen Roosen perform a compass spin of an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) to be deployed on Pioneer MAB.   It is important to do the compass calibration prior to deployment to correct for the introduction of magnetic materials during setup.  

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Heavy Winch Test

In preparation for the Endurance 20 expedition, the heavy winch to be used in recovery and deployment operations on the R/V Sikuliaq, is lifted in the yard at the Ocean Observing Center in Corvallis. The heavy winch will be loaded on a tractor trailer for transport to the newly renovated Oregon State University Pier in…

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Pre-Deployment Testing

Pre-deployment testing of the Imaging Flow CytoBot (IFCB) to be deployed on the Central surface mooring of the Pioneer MAB Array. OOI team members Nikki Arm (left), Sheri White (center) and Sawyer Newman (right) lower the IFCB into the test well at the WHOI dock.

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Seabed Survey

The OOI-CGSN team surveyed the seabed to better understand the layout of the proposed moorings sites.  The RV Neil Armstrong operated a hull-mounted acoustic equipment to collect bathymetry (depth contours), backscatter imagery (seabed characterization), and subbottom data (seabed profile and geophysical layering).  Chris Basque, Irene Duran, and John Lund also piloted the ROV over the…

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Big Eyes Along the Mid-Atlantic Coast

Large binoculars called “big eyes” are used to help marine mammal observers detect and identify distant sightings.  Personnel from the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service were graciously included in the OOI Pioneer Array cruise as part of an exploratory survey targeting North Atlantic right whales and recording all other marine mammals encountered.  The population is painfully small,…

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