Fledermaus – It’s Like a Video Game for Science

Jonathan Pazol, high school AP science teacher in the Chicago area, onboard through the ARMADA Teachers Program

Every minute spent aboard the Healy during this expedition, we have been collecting data. The multibeam echosounder and the “Chirp” system run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Millions of data points have been collected and then processed by the 7 scientists assigned that task during their watches. That data then get uploaded into a computer software program that puts them all together.

This program, called Fledermaus, which Chief scientist Larry Mayer helped to develop, is an interactive three-dimensional (3D) tool that provides a way to prepare, analyze and present data. It was designed for the display of geographic features, such as mountains or ocean floors but has many other uses as well.

The program takes the processed data and can display them as surfaces, images, points, lines or even cross-sections. The bathymetric data can be positioned over a geographic map and looked at from “above” to see the features of a particular area. The picture titled “Multibeam data in Fledermaus in 2D” shows this type of display from multibeam data in an area of the Arctic Ocean called the Alpha Ridge.

Fledermaus can also take the data, color-band the surface features according to their height, and then display them in a 3D format on a map, such as the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean (IBCAO) map. The picture titled “Fledermaus image of multibeam data in 3D” shows a map of the Northwind Ridge – the western edge of the Chukchi Borderland. Areas based on imported data points are displayed in color. Areas that appear as a black grid are areas where there is no multibeam data to overlay on the IBCAO map.

Furthermore, seismic data can be imported and displayed simultaneously along with the multibeam data. One of the most amazing features of the software is that all of the displays can be rotated in 3D to look at a location from any angle, including underneath. And, there is a 3D “flight mode,” where the user can “fly” through a map to see various geographic changes. It’s like a video game for scientific purposes.

In addition to mapping, Fledermaus has been used to show before and after images of dredging for shipping channels, the positioning of pipelines, chemical reactions, and crop growth rates. It has even been used to map the locations of ships, caissons (temporary docks/breakwaters), and tanks off the coast of Normandy left over from the D-Day invasion of WWII.

The Otherworldly Sights and Sounds of the Arctic

Petty Officer Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard

I am a photographer, videographer and journalist in the U.S. Coast Guard. During this mission, I am onboard Healy to document this historic voyage to map the ocean floor and define the outer reaches of our continental shelf.

If you are reading this, you most likely have an infinitely greater understanding of the complexities of what the science team is doing to accomplish its goals than I do.  You probably know better than I what the significance of 12khz multi-beam sonar is to the oceanographers.  You probably know why pockmarks on the Chukchi Cap are relevant to the geologists.

What you might not have, however, is an idea of what we aboard Healy are seeing and experiencing.  This region is amazingly unique, awesome, and striking. So instead of offering a feeble attempt to explain the very complicated scientific research underway, I am simply providing you a description of our temporary environment.

We are a little more than two weeks into our journey into the Arctic Ocean, and I am still amazed by what I see each day.  We have seen four polar bears, a few rare birds and many seals.  However, the most incredible feature of the Arctic, in my opinion, is the ice itself.

As we move through the Arctic Ocean, the ice changes from one location to the next. The change is not just the thickness, as I had anticipated, but also the color, density, and texture.  In some areas, the ice looks harsh and unwilling to yield to the weight of Healy, and in other spots it appears that the ice attempts to flee before the ship gets to it. Sometimes when you look out you feel like you are cruising through a snow-covered prairie. The next day, it’s as though you have landed on a rocky, frozen planet and the ship has to blast its way through.

When it comes to color, you might think only of blue and white as the prevailing colors of the extreme north. While those are the most common colors, just calling them blue and white is not sufficient. I have seen more shades of blue here than any home improvement store paint department could hope to produce, and until I got here, I didn’t even realize there was more than one shade of white.  The frozen pools that form on top of the multi-year ice floes create the most astonishing shade of blue I have ever seen.  The white ice background creates an intense contrast, which makes the blue stand out even more.

When the fog clears enough for the sun to make an appearance, gold becomes an important player in the color scheme of the Arctic. When the sun is out, the ocean water appears to be a deep shade of black. When we are not completely surrounded by ice, the sun reflects off the black water and the bright white of the ice and creates a brilliant golden haze that runs along the horizon. And at this time of the year, the sun does not drop below the horizon; instead, you have a lasting sunset or sunrise.

If you are out on deck while the ship is breaking ice, you can actually hear the ice strain under the weight of the hull and snap when the load is too much for the sheet to bear. From inside the ship, you hear a deep rumble when Healy confronts large sheets of ice. The sound of the ship colliding with a smaller chunk of ice is more of a loud bang.

Having spent the majority of my career on boats and cutters, I am still struggling to wrap my mind around the fact that one of Healy’s primary purposes is to go out to sea and run into a major navigational hazard, over and over again.  I guess at some point I won’t flinch when the ship rocks, rolls, and shakes through an eight-foot-thick sheet of ice.

This for me is a once in a lifetime trip that I hope to someday tell my grandkids about. If you are ever offered the opportunity to make your way to the top of the world, do not pass it up. I would hate for you to miss out because no one ever told you how amazing the Arctic Ocean is.

Surveying Unexplored Features

Andy Armstrong, NOAA Office of Coast Survey, Co-chief scientist about USCGC Healy

Today we did some multibeam bathymetric mapping over areas of high seafloor relief on the Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge complex, 625 miles north of the Arctic coast of Alaska. We are still breaking through 9/10 ice (90% of the sea surface covered by ice) in front of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent. Although the ice is often 1-2 meters thick, we are generally breaking it fairly easily.

This part of the track is designed to obtain multichannel seismic reflection profiles over seafloor areas from which we dredged rock samples last year (see photos of scientists examining these rocks at http://continentalshelf.gov/newsroom.html). The dredge samples and seismic profiles will help us analyze the geology of the Arctic region and delineate the extended continental shelf.

Our planned route has also taken us within a few miles of an unsurveyed feature that is vaguely depicted on Russian contour maps of the area, and is represented as a single circular contour on the International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean. These representations are indistinct probably because they are based on one or two isolated soundings.

So, in an exploratory deviation from our planned track, we are running a bathymetric survey to precisely locate and define the feature. We began mapping a north-south trending, 14-nautical-mile-long ridge that rises abruptly out of the seafloor and stands at least 500 meters tall. Having mapped the eastern flank on our first pass, our path over the next two hours will take us along the spine of the feature and back to our originally planned track line (see image). As we turned to run the northbound leg of our survey, we saw a hint of some additional seafloor relief to the south – but that will have to wait for next year!

Two days ago, over the abyssal plain, we also had an opportunity to pass over another potential feature: an area shown as a deeper spot on Russian bathymetric maps. As we passed over the area, however, we found no change in the depth. We are again reminded that the existing maps and charts of the Arctic are based on very sparse soundings from a wide variety of sources, and depth contours reflect the very subjective judgment of the compiler.

Forecasting Arctic Weather

Jonathan Pazol, high school AP science teacher in the Chicago area, onboard through the ARMADA Teachers Program

We’re still heading north at about 4.5 knots (nautical miles per hour), which, if you don’t know ships, is very slowly. It is still foggy and when the wind picks up, it is very cold.  Whose idea was it to go to the Arctic in August when it’s 90^◦ F in Chicago?

One of the other science activities that occurs on board is the collection of weather data.  Twice daily, at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., members of the Navy launch a weather balloon off the flight deck.  AG1 (Aerographers Mate 1^st Class) Richard Lehmkuhl is in charge of the operations.  He is based in Norfolk, Virginia at the Naval Meteorology and Oceanographic Center, and in his 14 years of service has traveled the world.  Supervising AG1 is Navy Commander William Sommer from the Naval Oceanographic Office in Stennis, MS.  The Navy has formed a task force on climate change and is onboard Healy to work with and learn from the Coast Guard about Arctic surface operations and engineering, including navigation through the ice, polar communications, weather forecasting, and developing ice prediction systems.

AG1 Lehmkuhl is responsible for preparing the balloons. It’s more than a balloon, really — a battery-powered radiosonde, which is a small white box containing a transmitter, hangs suspended from the balloon.  The radiosonde contains sensors that collect information about wind direction, temperature, humidity, and air pressure, and a GPS transmitter that sends the data back to Healy.

In the helicopter hangar, the balloon is filled with helium, and then the radiosonde is attached. Then it is carried carefully to the edge of the flight deck and released. This can be a tricky operation because handling an almost five-foot diameter balloon in strong winds is difficult.  AG1 Lehmkuhl and Commander Sommer have to be careful that the equipment does not bang into the flight deck, and that the balloon flies off the ship without becoming entangled in any of the equipment on board.

The balloon will gather data as it travels up almost 6 kilometers (3.6 miles). At that point, the air pressure drops to about 50 millibars, causing the balloon to expand so much it pops.  If it doesn’t reach this altitude, the batteries will stop transmitting data after about 2 hours.

Once AG1 Lehmkuhl receives the data, he forwards it along so it can be used to provide weather forecasts for the Navy, Coast Guard, other Department of Defense groups, and NATO units.

Straightening Out The Gear And Heading Toward More Interesting Seafloor

Andy Armstrong, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, Co-chief scientist aboard USCGC Healy

Today began on the same northwestward track as yesterday, with Healy multibeam echo sounding in the lead and CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent towing their multichannel seismic reflection gear astern. Although we had expected ice conditions to remain about the same, the ice actually got a little more closely packed, with more ridges and thick areas. On a couple occasions we had to back up and ram the ice to break through and make a path for Louis S. St-Laurent. Without a clear path through the ice, the towed seismic equipment on the Louis S. St-Laurent would be destroyed in short order.

Our survey and mapping progress was also slowed a bit by some of the inevitable problems that arise in any major project like this. Louis S. St-Laurent was experiencing intermittent problems with their seismic gear and decided to haul the gear in for service. Louis S. St-Laurent’s helicopter was sent aloft to find open water where the sled and streamer could be safely retrieved, and the two ships steamed about seven miles east of our track to the opening. With Louis S. St-Laurent temporarily out of service, Healy took advantage of this time to do some equipment repair of our own. About a week ago during the first CTD cast of the cruise, the CTD winch level-wind malfunctioned and mis-wrapped some of the wire on the drum. The result of that mishap was that the wire was jammed at about 1300 meters out. The Coast Guard engineers and science technicians have spent the past few hours carefully paying out wire and clearing the jam.

We should be on our way back to the track in about an hour. Because we want continuous lines of seismically determined sediment thickness, we will return to where we left off on our original track before heading northwestward again.

We should complete this leg of the track sometime tomorrow morning, and turn eastward to cross some of the bathymetric features on the margin of the Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge complex. The multibeam will have a more interesting task there than it had just a few days ago. In a part of the Beaufort Sea we mapped on August 13, the multibeam data hardly varied from about 3800 meters of depth, either across the 5-nautical mile wide swath or along the day’s 75 nautical mile track. That part of the Beaufort Sea is one of the flattest seafloors in the entire world; sediment has been drifting down and settling evenly in this basin for millions of years.

How to Map the Seafloor When You Can’t See Bottom

Rachael Soraruf, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey

For millennia, people have been navigating the seas and waterways for commerce and transportation. However, lack of knowledge of shoals and hazards on the seafloor resulted in the loss of human life, as well as damage to ships and cargo. To safely traverse waters, mariners began measuring the depths of navigable waters and developing nautical charts.

Until the early 1930s, depths were determined by lead-line sounding techniques.  Lead-line sounding involves dropping a lead weight on a graduated line (rope) until it hits the seafloor, and then reading the depth from the line.  While fairly accurate for measuring seafloor depths, especially in shallow waters, this technique is extremely labor intensive and results in gaps between measurements.  These gaps in coverage of the bottom could conceal the discovery of dangerous obstructions on the seafloor.

During the early 20^th century, naval requirements contributed to the development of the single beam echo sounder, which became the primary means of depth measurement for charting by the 1940s.  Although the single beam echo sounder was more efficient than lead-line sounding techniques, it still did not provide continuous coverage of the seafloor.

In the 1970s, the multibeam echo sounder was developed to cover large areas of the seafloor.  Unlike lead-line and single beam echo sounders, multibeam echo sounders collect data in a series of adjacent swaths that provide complete seafloor coverage, eliminating the chance of missing an obstruction or dangerous feature. The technology rapidly improved through the 1980s and 1990s, and is now the standard instrument for surveying the seafloor.

However, the majority of depths found on nautical charts in United States coastal waters remain those captured by lead-line and single beam surveys pre-dating the mid-1980s. Why? Planning and executing hydrographic surveys is time and money-intensive, and there is a lot of seafloor to cover: including the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the U.S. is responsible for 3.4 million square nautical miles of seafloor. At the current rate of seafloor mapping, it will take over century of continuous surveying to completely chart. Still, it is the aim of NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey (OCS) to provide complete and accurate charts for navigation of all vessel traffic within U.S. coastal waters.

An Icy CTD Cast

Andy Armstrong, NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, Co-chief scientist aboard USCGC Healy

USCGC Healy continues to break ice for the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent, which is following astern of us. We are obtaining valuable multibeam bathymetry in parts of the Arctic Ocean that have never been mapped, but multichannel seismic profiling from the Louis S. St-Laurent remains the primary goal for now. On Friday and Saturday, we were on an eastward upslope track toward the Canadian shelf. Last night we reached the end of that track and turned southwestward to profile and sound back down the slope. Tomorrow we expect to turn northwestward toward the areas of more interest to the U.S.

At the end our eastward line last night, we stopped briefly for engineering maintenance on both ships, and some maintenance on the seismic equipment. While stopped, we were able to complete a CTD cast – a deployment of an instrument that measures the conductivity (salinity), temperature, and depth. The readings from the CTD create a sound speed profile, which we compare to the multibeam echosounder depth results. This CTD cast through the ice was a first for me, but is one of the things Healy does fairly routinely.

One of the remarkable aspects of this cruise is the cooperation and collaboration between the U.S. and Canada. Both nations need these seismic profiles for our respective Extended Continental Shelf projects, but they are almost impossible to obtain with the single icebreaker each of us has available. By operating jointly, we can both get the data we need.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

Betsy Baker, Associate Professor, Vermont Law School

The world has a set of rules about how to use the oceans:  among them, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS Convention).  Most nations have signed and ratified the treaty, and even those that have not – for example, the United States – abide by the vast majority of its rules. The LOS Convention spells out the rights and duties countries have with respect to navigational rights, ocean environmental protection, the use of living and non-living resources of the ocean, marine scientific research, piracy, and how to settle disputes arising between countries about matters governed by the treaty.

Every coastal nation has greatest jurisdiction over the waters closest to its shores, known as its territorial sea.  This jurisdiction diminishes as one travels away from shore, through several zones, to the High Seas.  The Convention also reserves an “Area” under the High Seas not subject to any country’s jurisdiction; its mineral resources are considered to be the responsibility and resource of all, or “the common heritage of mankind.”

The LOS Convention’s rules about the ocean’s non-living resources (think: “oil and gas”) lie at the heart of the current flurry of scientific activity to map the Arctic Ocean by all five Arctic countries with coastline above the Arctic Circle – Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Norway, Russia, and the United States.  Article 77 of the Convention gives every coastal state the exclusive sovereign right to “explore and exploit” the living and non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil within a certain area that the treaty calls “the continental shelf.” This part of the treaty is concerned only with what is on or under the ocean floor; a separate part of the treaty deals with living marine resources that dwell in the water column.

Every coastal nation automatically has these exclusive rights for the seabed and subsoil that lie within 200 nautical miles of its territorial sea baseline. A party to the Convention can provide specific scientific evidence showing just how far its continental shelf extends past that 200 nm line to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), an expert body of geophysicists and hydrographers set up by the LOS Convention.  The evidence must show that the “shelf” is a natural prolongation of the country’s continental landmass and must identify such things as where the shelf descends to meet the ocean floor. There are limits on how far beyond the 200 nm line a country can exercise its rights (350 nm from shore or 100 nm beyond where the water is 2500 m deep). These limits protect the common heritage “Area” from being taken up entirely by continental shelves of coastal countries. You can see a graphical representation of these limits at http://continentalshelf.gov/newsroom.html#graphics.

The United States is the only Arctic country, and indeed one of the few countries in the world, that has not yet ratified the LOS Convention.  A non-party country has the same rights in its extended continental shelf as a country that has ratified the Convention, but without ratifying, the U.S. cannot submit its scientific findings to the CLCS, which means the U.S. will not have the opportunity to receive their recommendations and set ECS limits based on them. There is an benefit to considering these recommendations: according to the LOS Convention, if a coastal country establishes its ECS limits “on the basis of” CLCS recommendations, those limits are “final and binding.”

A small handful of senators has blocked ratification in the past, notwithstanding widespread support for the Convention from all branches of the military, environmental groups and industry interests.  President Clinton and both Presidents Bush supported the treaty, as does the current administration.  The LOS Convention is the best hope for international cooperation towards sustainable, safe, and equitable use of the world’s oceans.

First Day of Data Collection

Andy Armstrong, co-chief scientist aboard USCGC Healy

Today we began the primary work of this joint U.S.-Canada Extended Continental Shelf mapping project. After a night and morning of steaming north in company with the Louis S. St-Laurent, we reached the starting point of our first seismic profiling line. At 77-11.2 N, 148-16.1 W, Healy moved into the lead to begin clearing a path through the ice, and the Canadian team on Louis deployed their seismic gear. This starting point coincides with the end of a line from last year’s work.

Not surprisingly for such a complex operation as multi-channel seismic profiling in ice-covered waters, some of the deployed equipment did not work properly, and Louis S. St-Laurent had to retrieve its gear as the two icebreakers doubled back to the start point for another try. Everything worked this time, and we began acquiring both bathymetry and seismic profile data.

We are presently moving north through the Beaufort Sea at about 4 knots, easily clearing the way though melting 6/10 – 7/10 ice (60% – 70% of the sea surface covered by ice).

What Are We Doing, and Why?

Barbara Moore, U.S Extended Continental Shelf Interagency Task Force

Simply put, we are looking for the edge of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean.  Why?  To determine where we can exercise our sovereign rights over the natural resources of the seafloor beyond 200 nautical miles (nm) from shore. Defining and establishing the limits of this extended continental shelf (ECS) in concrete geographical terms provides the certainty necessary to use, manage and protect the seabed and subsoil resources there, which include mineral resources (manganese nodules, ferromanganese crusts, and polymetallic sulfides), petroleum resources (oil, gas and gas hydrates), and “sedentary” creatures (clams, crabs, corals).

Under international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, every coastal nation automatically has a continental shelf out to 200 nm from its coastal baselines, or out to a maritime boundary with another coastal nation. In addition, article 76 of the Convention specifies the data a country must gather and the criteria it must follow to demonstrate that its continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm. These criteria are based on the shape of the seafloor (morphology) and the amount of sediment that has been deposited from the continents.

Onboard the USCGC Healy, multibeam echo-sounders are used to map the surface of the seafloor.  Modern-day maps on land are made as aircraft flying over terrain use optical instruments to see and map the surface of the earth.  In the oceans, these optical techniques do not work because they cannot see through the vast water column that overlies the ocean floor.  Instead, sound waves are used to “see” through the water to the ocean floor.  Multiple sound beams from the instruments on the Healy bounce off the seafloor, and with the help of sophisticated computer software, produce a three-dimensional map, called a bathymetric map, of the ocean floor beneath the ship.  The shape of the seafloor is important for identifying where the continent ends and the abyssal plain begins.

The second criteria a nation may use to delineate its full continental shelf requires knowledge about sediment thickness on the ocean floor.  This approach is relevant in the Arctic Ocean, where thick sediment deposits exist.  Collecting information about sediment thickness also involves sound, but at lower frequencies and using different techniques.  Seismic soundings are generated by towing a long array behind a ship, and using receivers strung along the array to hear the sound bounced back from the ocean floor and its layers of sediment. An air gun is used to generate the initial sound pulse.

Up here in the Arctic Ocean, we are using both bathymetric and seismic techniques. And because towing a long seismic array through an ice-littered field is very challenging, we are using a two-ship operation. In areas where seismic data are especially important to collect, the Healy sails ahead, breaking ice and making a clear path for the Canadian icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent to tow its seismic gear. In other areas, where bathymetric data are more important, roles will be reversed.  The survey path has been selected to accommodate areas of interest for both U.S. and Canadian interests, and data between the two countries will be shared.

The United States may have an ECS as large as one million square kilometers, which is roughly twice the size of California and about one-ninth of the existing U.S. land.  There are six areas where the U.S. likely has ECS, and another nine it may have ECS. Of all these, the area in the Arctic is probably the largest.  Like other nations, it is important for the U.S. to define and secure international recognition of the exact extent of our sovereign rights in the ocean.

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• About the Blog

  The 2009 U.S.-Canada Arctic Continental Shelf Survey is underway from August 7 - September 16. Blog posts from sea are authored by the various agencies collaborating during the expedition. More information on the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Project can be found at continentalshelf.gov.

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