Welcome to Think Tank

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Welcome to Think Tank 5! A Strategic Planning
Session for Ocean Acidification
Research December 3 - 7, 2007 Little Cayman,
Cayman Islands Little Cayman Research Center
Carrie Manfrino, Director Jon Clamp, Manager
Jim Hendee, Principal Investigator
Starring (alphabetically) Rebecca Albright, Ken
Anthony, Felipe Arzayus, Mark Eakin, Richard
Feely, Dwight Gledhill, Lew Gramer, Abbie Rae
Harris, Joanie Kleypas, Chris Langdon, Derek
Manzello, Christopher Moses, Lisa Robbins, Chris
Sabine, John Tomczuk, and Kim Yates
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The Process of Installing aCoral Reef Early
Warning System (CREWS)Station

• The CREWS Program is part of the
• Integrated Coral Observing Network
• and the Coral Health and Monitoring Program at
  the
• Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological
  Laboratory
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Miami, Florida

For further information, please contact Dr. Jim
Hendee Jim.Hendee_at_noaa.gov
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CREWS stations, such as this one in SW Puerto
Rico, in the La Parguera Marine Reserve, provide
long-term hourly databases to, a) provide Marine
Protected Area decision support, and, b) define
long-term trends for research analyses in the
areas where they are deployed.
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The Instruments
A stable pylon-style coral monitoring platform
provides the opportunity to position instruments
of various sizes, shapes and configurations at
various heights above the ocean and depths
throughout the water column.
Meteorological instruments measure air
temperature, wind speed, barometric pressure,
humidity, precipitation and light (PAR, UV). The
basic oceanographic instruments measure sea
temperature, salinity and light (PAR, UV).
Optional instruments measure pCO2, Pulse
Amplitude Modulating (PAM) fluorometry, and
transmissometery. New instrumentation may record
nutrients, acoustic signals from fish and
plankton, or particle counts.
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The site for the new CREWS station will be about
100 yards shoreward of ICON Reef at 19o
41.941' N, 80o 03.625' W a gorgeous spot, as
you will see.
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To begin the process of installing a CREWS
station, a hard bottom area strong enough, and at
the right depth (20'), must first be chosen.
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Stainless steel pins with T-endings are used to
hold down all the lines that hold the station to
the bottom.
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A 30 radius is measured around the center
location of the site, with eight pin sites marked
equally around the circumference.
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John Halas drills, with extra weight on his belt
to hold him down, while Jules Craynock marks the
spot and helps keep the sand away from the hole.
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When installed in a hard substrate, the eight
pins are surrounded with special epoxy and
perhaps topped with concrete after their
positioning in the drilled holes.
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Before the pins are drilled for the bottom plate,
a template is place over the spot so that the
holes will be aligned perfectly.
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The plate is leveled and concrete is placed under
the plate at any voids so as to make for a solid
structure for the plate. The pins will then be
fastened down tightly.
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The completed bottom plate installation at
Discovery Bay, Jamaica.
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Mike Shoemaker (left) and Manny Collazo fasten
the solar panels and rig the cables inside the
station before it goes to the site for
installation.
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To help hold the station down on the stainless
steel ball, about 725 lbs. of lead shot is poured
through a hole in the bottom of the stick then
covered up with a Fiberglas wrap.
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The completed station, here in Discovery Bay, is
placed upon miniature wheels so it can be lowered
down the boat ramp, where it will then be fitted
with floatation gear and towed to the
installation site.
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Before deployment, the URL and NOAA stickers are
attached to the pylon..
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A diver attaches "pillow bags" to keep the pylon
afloat in the proper orientation. After the
station is towed to the spot of deployment, the
bags will be slowly deflated so that the pylon is
lowered gently to the region of the bottom plate,
while the divers steer the socket joint on the
bottom of the pylon into place over the stainless
steel ball on the plate.
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Here the station now has floatation and is ready
to be towed to the installation site.
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Care is made that the navigational light does not
dip into the water during towing.
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The pylon is finally on its way to the
installation site. The pylon must be towed
slowly in calm seas.
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Divers make ready to install the station at the
bottom plate site.
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The station is held up straight in the water with
eight Spectra cord/chain combinations, which act
as shock-absorbers for the station during
inclemency.
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The station is fastened to the bottom plate by
the divers.
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The underwater "shock absorber" lines are
attached by divers to the station during the
process of straightening up the pylon.
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The entire station sits atop the 2 stainless
steel ball and is held down not only by the
chains, but by Spectra lines attached to the
stainless steel eyes.
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The divers utilize lift bags, which they inflate
and deflate, to help tension and adjust the
supporting lines alternatively, until the pylon
is standing up straight. The bags are also
utilized to lift the heavy chains and move them
into place. NOAA must use specially trained NOAA
Working Divers to conduct these special
underwater construction-related tasks.
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A NOAA Working Diver adjusts tension on a
supporting line before tying it off securely.
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Finally, the pylon is straight and the pillow
bags can be deflated so that the pylon can now
stand on its own through its eight supporting
lines. The bare pylon is now ready for the
addition of the electronics.
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During the next phase, the CREWS crew begins by
unpacking the electronics in preparation for
testing.
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The data logger is fitted with the input sensor
cables for testing.
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Each sensor talks to the data logger in a
different fashion and must be programmed to
acquire the data from the sensor several (or
many) times per hour before assessing the average
value which it will be sent up to the GOES
satellite once per hour.
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The data logger is tested with a laptop computer
for data throughput before deployment.
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The logger, batteries and other electronics are
installed inside the station from the top.
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The solar-powered battery pack sits beneath the
data logger and has enough amp-hours to last for
long cloudy periods.
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Meanwhile, the divers are below helping adjust
the cables and brackets for the underwater
instruments that will soon be installed.
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The next 12 hour day at the station begins before
dawn. The installation and testing of the
remaining electronics is a long process.
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Chris Langdon, in the skiff, hoists the
meteorological and data transmission instruments
to Mike Jankulak, aloft, who will then attach
them to special grounded supports.
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Just below the lightening arrestor is a platform
that holds the navigation light, which can be
seen up to about 3.2 nm away. This light has its
own power supply and automatically changes bulbs
when one goes out. Thus, the CREWS stations act
as navigational markers, and in fact have saved
lives in the past during heavy storms when
mariners were lost at sea.
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After the programmer wires the cables to the
logger, the divers begin to install instruments
on the brackets and tighten up the cables.
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SAMI pCO2 sensor.
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The electrical system is tested by the programmer
one more time with all instruments attached.
After the instruments are attached, the GOES
transmitter is tested to see if it has adequate
transmission power, that the logger is polling
the instruments correctly, and that the numbers
being transmitted appear to be realistic.
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Success!
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Integrated Coral Observing Network