The oleander project: high-resolution observations of the dynamic ocean between new jersey and bermuda

Ended Project Grant Awarded Last action

Award ID
2241601
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$1,388,432

Award facts

Assistance listing
47.050 Geosciences
Completion date
Place of performance
Woods Hole, Falmouth, MA, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

As the agency reported it.

Abstract
For nearly three decades, a commercial container vessel, CV oleander, has served as a volunteer oceanographic observing ship during weekly round-trip voyages between port elizabeth, NJ and hamilton, bermuda. The vessel?s route crosses the mid atlantic bight (MAB) shelf and slope as well as the gulf stream and sargasso sea ? A diverse set of regions that bring together subpolar and tropical waters and critically influence ocean circulation, heat transport, biological productivity and the marine carbon cycle in the western north atlantic. Measurements made from the ship include current velocity from acoustic doppler current profilers (adcp) and temperature from expendable bathythermographs (xbts) and thermosalinograph. The most recent vessel replacement, however, necessitated changes in the installations of the oceanographic instrumentation and subsequent reduction in data return from the ship-mounted adcps. This project is focused on resolving the instrument performance issues and returning the oleander to routine return of oceanographic data. Observations of partial pressure of carbon-dioxide (PCO2) are also made in-line with the theromosalinograph and there is a continuous plankton recorder for sampling plankton. This project will bring the newest oleander?s scientific sensors online, and to continue and enhance the in situ measurements made possible by this commercial vessel?s regular service along a single route. These measurements are essential for studies of ocean circulation, heat transport, biological productivity and the marine carbon cycle in the western north atlantic. Interannual to decadal variability in the gulf stream system has both regional and basin-wide implications. Gulf stream meandering impacts exchange processes with surrounding waters. In addition, climate models point to rapid change in the atlantic meridional overturning circulation (amoc), whose warm limb is carried within the gulf stream, and suggest that amoc variability also drives changes observed on the shelf and coast. To understand the underlying processes and to validate or refute the model-based hypotheses, there is a need for in situ multidecade records of the gulf stream and surrounding waters. The oleander line with its coverage of shelf, slope, gulf stream and sargasso waters is well-suited to directly measure fluxes associated with the amoc and to compare with amoc estimates from other latitudes to examine meridional coherence. Increased understanding of the drivers of both the long-term changes and the event-scale processes on the shelf and slope off the northeast US has implications for the phenology and health of the shelf ecosystems along the highly populated coast with commercially important fisheries. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment $307,083
Amendment $509,238
Original award $572,111

Subawards

Subrecipient Amount Awarded
University Of Hawaii The UH Currents Group writes, installs, and maintains software systems for running the ADCP and TSG, for processing the ADCP data, and for automatically… $202,627
Bermuda Institute Of Ocean Sciences (Bios) Inc. Since the late 1970s, the container vessel Oleander has transported commercial goods to the island of Bermuda while also serving as a “volunteer observing ship”… $497,998
The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York The purpose of the Oleander Continuation project is to complete the installation of the science equipment in the new Oleander and to prepare for the next dry… $68,805

Quick answers

Who received award 2241601?

2241601 was awarded to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution by Division of Ocean Sciences (National Science Foundation) on March 15, 2023.

How much is award 2241601 worth?

$1,388,432 has been obligated on 2241601.

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