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TAO/TRITON Teacher at Sea

TAO/TRITON Teacher at Sea Dr. Diane Stanitski-Martin The NOAA Office of Global Programs (OGP) and the National Science Foundation are proud to introduce our 5th co-sponsored Teacher at Sea, Dr. Diane Stanitski-Martin, professor from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. Diane embarked on the NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana in Honolulu, HI on August 16, 2002 and will travel to the Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands (most recent location for the popular TV show "Survivor"), arriving around September 5, 2002.

While onboard, Diane will conduct several live, close-captioned web broadcasts. During the next two weeks, Diane will host at least three broadcasts where she will spend 45 minutes teaching her undergraduate and graduate classes. Diane's lesson plans will be published on the web site. If you would like to participate in the broadcast, please contact jennifer.hammond@noaa.gov.

Diane is also maintaining a daily log, taking photographs, interviewing scientists, and engaging in dialogue with other teachers and students, as well as the general public, while on the cruise. If you would like to contact Diane, please send her an e-mail (diane.stanitski-martin@noaa.gov).

Diane stands in front of the Ka'Imimoana before her departure.

Diane practices with the broadcast equipment, with help from the video director and electronics technician.

(Left) Diane standing in front of the Ka'Imimoana just before departure on August 16, 2002.

(Above) Diane practicing for the first Teacher at Sea broadcast, with Larry Wooten, Electronics Technician (at computer) and John Kermond, video director.

During the research cruise, the NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana will service the TAO/TRITON array along both the 140W and 125 W longitude. The TAO/TRITON array is part of a complex climate observation system. Central to describing, understanding, and predicting the Earth's climate system is observation. The mission of NOAA's Climate Observation Program is to build and sustain a global climate observing system that will respond to the long-term requirements of the operational forecast centers, international research programs, and major scientific assessments. The observational component of climate services has by far the greatest opportunity and necessity for international collaboration. A global observing system by definition crosses international boundaries and the potential exists for both benefits and burdens to be shared by many nations.

Map of Diane's route from Honolulu, HI to Nuku Hiva, Marquises to Honolulu

Map of Diane's route. Honolulu, HI to Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands to Honolulu; 15 Aug- 7 Sep - 22 Sep 2002; GP5-02-KA (Map Courtesy of NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

A newly instrumented TAO buoy awaits deployment from the ship.

(Left) A newly instrumented TAO buoy awaits deployment at 8°N, 125°W.

(Right) Here the crane is gently lifting the test buoy above the water so that the rope does not interfere with the sensitive wind sensors on top of the mast.

The crane gently lifts the test buoy above the water so the rope does not interfere with the sensitive wind sensors on top of the mast.

All of NOAA's contributions to the ocean component of the climate observing system are coordinated internationally. Perhaps none of the components is better-known than the TAO/TRITON array. Built over the past 15 years, through the efforts of many nations, the TAO/TRITON array is now maintained principally by the United States and Japan. Each of the 70 moored buoys that span the tropical Pacific must be visited twice-a-year for maintenance and instrument calibration. The servicing ship, the NOAA Ship Ka'imimoana, deploys other elements of the ocean observing system en route to the array, such as drifting buoys and Argo floats, as well as carrying scientists participating in climate research programs such as EPIC.

Five years after the onset of the most intense El Niño on record, the TAO-TRITON array is once again tracking El Niño conditions. While most pronounced in the tropical Pacific and nearby regions, El Niño's impacts are felt worldwide. The ocean is second only to the sun in influencing climate variability and change. Thus scientists are watching carefully the measurements being reported by the TAO/TRITON array. The hope is that improved long-range forecasts, based on those measurements from the expanse of the Pacific Ocean, can help people in all regions around the world prepare for potential variations in this year's climate conditions.

Our second TAO/TRITON Teacher, Dr. Diane Stanitski-Martin, is not only fortunate to participate in the science and research being conducted on the ship, but she is providing Shippensburg University students exciting information about this research endeavor. Follow Diane during her adventure on her web site: http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/tao

Related Links:

OGP Sponsored Teachers at Sea
To learn more about OGP sponsored Teachers at Sea, please visit http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/tas

Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) project
Click on the link titled "The TAO Story" to learn all about TAO
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/

NOAA's Climate Observation Program
Learn all about the Climate Observation Program on this web page
http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/mpe/co

NOAA Teacher at Sea Program
Applications are available on this web page
http://www.tas.noaa.gov

The Office of Global Programs (OGP) leads the NOAA Climate and Global Change (C&GC) Program. OGP assists NOAA by sponsoring focused scientific research aimed at understanding climate variability and its predictability. Through studies in these areas, researchers coordinate activities that jointly contribute to improved predictions and assessments of climate variability over a continuum of timescales from season to season, year to year, and over the course of a decade and beyond.

[8/26/02]

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