February 2010 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 7. Waterfront News


New building will enable fabrication and maintenance of new ocean observing systems


WOODS HOLE OCEANAGRAPHIC INSTITUTE TO GET NEW LAB


The Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- tution (WHOI) will receive $8.1 million from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to construct the Laboratory for Ocean Sensors and Observing Systems. The WHOI award is one of only 12 proposals of 167 submissions that were funded as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to support the construction of new scientific research facilities.


Construction on the new building on the WHOI Quissett campus is expected to start Aug. 1 and be completed by summer 2012. “This is great news for the Institution,” said WHOI President and Director Susan Avery. “The Laboratory for Ocean Sensors and Observing Systems will provide essen- tial space for several ongoing large projects, enabling new approaches to ocean observa- tions well into the 21st century.” Among those projects is the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $300 million infrastructure project sponsored by the Na- tional Science Foundation. In 2009, WHOI received funds to begin work on coastal and global components of the OOI and will play a central role in developing the project over the next five years and beyond. As the lead institution for the coastal and global scale components, WHOI has significant respon- sibilities for development, testing, deploy- ment and maintenance of a variety of complex instruments, vehicles and ocean moorings that must be both sensitive and rugged. WHOI will hire approximately 30 new scien- tists, engineers and technicians to accom- plish this, with the new laboratory space devoted to this work.


“This facility will allow WHOI to con- tinue its extensive efforts to develop and maintain cutting-edge observing methods critical to increasing our understanding of the ocean and its role in the climate system,” said Bob Weller, a senior scientist and the OOI principal investigator at WHOI. The building will also include laboratory


and operational office space for two other programs: the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO), a state of the art un- derwater research facility and test site con- structed and operated by WHOI; and the WHOI Ocean Bottom Seismometer Instru- ment Pool (OBSIP), currently occupying space on the WHOI dock.


In addition to the NSF-funded observ- ing projects, all three programs accommo- dated within the new lab support NOAA priorities in ocean observing, climate studies, weather observing and forecasting, coastal processes and hazards, ecosystem and fish- eries, earthquake and tsunami research, and ocean data management. Sensor and instru- ment design, construction, calibration and deployment, together with data quality as- surance, also are relevant to NIST core func- tions.


“WHOI has successfully competed for significant federal and state support for major programs, including the OOI, MVCO and OBSIP programs, but that support has never included funds for buildings or other major plant facilities,” said Larry Madin, WHOI director of research and lead author on the proposal. “Construction of the new building will allow all scientists, engineers, and tech- nicians involved in the three programs to work together productively, maximizing the value of the federal support for these pro- grams.”


In addition to the funding for the new laboratory, WHOI received notice that NIST would grant $1.04 million for a separate project to develop and demonstrate sensor technology that will improve the ability to understand the origin, distribution, bio- geochemical role and eventual fate of carbon dioxide (CO2) in marine ecosystems. The ocean absorbs approximately 25 percent of CO2 released into the environment. These new sensors, which will be developed by researchers in the WHOI chemistry and engi- neering departments and installed on buoys to provide long-term monitoring and mea- surement of CO2, are expected to provide new data critical to understanding and respond- ing to global climate change.


Casco Bay News


Do you have sailing or boating news in and around the Casco Bay area? What’s happening at the local yacht, boating clubs or boat yards? Do you have a story to tell? Would you like to share your cruising plans or adventures with others? Do you know of someone that you would like to see in the next feature of “Sailing/Boating Personalities of Casco Bay”?


Suzanne Ellis of New Wave Yachts in


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Look for the interview featuring Steph Helms in the “Sailing Personality of Casco Bay” section of the next issue in March.


The Woods Hole Oceanographic Insti- tution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine re- search, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the oceans’ role in the changing global envi- ronment.


‘Mini-Sub’ Role at Pearl Harbor submarines. U.S. Navy ships sank the mini-


By Judith Snyderman


Special to American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON – Scientists who have been studying wreckage from Japanese mini-sub- marines that were part of an advance strike force on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, say a new television show is informative, but could leave viewers with misunderstandings. For one thing, they say, the show — part of PBS’s “NOVA” series — reveals no new discoveries.


“It’s basically a synopsis of the work that we performed up through 2000,” Navy Capt. John A. Rodgaard said during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable Jan. 6. Rodgaard was joined by Peter Hsu, a scientist who analyzes forensic shock effects of un- derwater explosions, and Robert Neyland of the Naval History and Heritage Command, which studies shipwrecks and sunken air- craft.


These experts say there’s no dispute that hours before the main air attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese navy launched five mini-subs armed with torpedoes from larger


subs, and the first pieces of wreckage were identified by the Hawaiian underwater re- search lab called HURL in 1992.


Another key piece of evidence is an aerial photograph of one of the mini-subs that was taken by a Japanese aircraft. In 1994, Rodgaard used that evidence to correct earlier beliefs that only one of the five submarines that had been launched made it into the harbor, and that it failed in its attack.


Continued on Page 14.


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