Preliminary Design and Model Testing for the High Latitude Research Vessel -- Phase II Alaska Regional Research Vessel

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OCE - 0121144WhitledgeThis proposal requests support for the second phase of the design and model testing of a Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) Research Vessel. The Science Mission Requirements have been established and reviewed by UNOLS, and the concept design was started in the fall of 2000. The proposed vessel will replace the current UNOLS regional research vessel, the R/V Alpha Helix, with a more capable, multi-purpose and somewhat larger ship, better able to address the contemporary research support needs of a variety of users.The waters surrounding Alaska Stretch from the southeastern Alaskan fjords, to the Bering Sea and north to the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. This vast region accounts for the majority of the United States continental shelf and its only Arctic waters. Some of the most productive fisheries in the world are found here, and there is strong demand for research on the marine ecosystems that support these populations. Marine mammal and bird research is increasing, and is likely to increase even more due to the "need to know" for management and legal purposes. Indigenous people live along the coasts, and use marine resources for subsistence. Increasing support for research in the Bering Sea and northern Gulf of Alaska, is, in part, driven by these considerations. Little is understood of major decadal and interannual variability in oceanographic and atmospheric conditions or the role of high latitude marine systems in global climatic processes. As a result, there is increasing demand for ship support in the region, and this year the R/V Alpha Helix is providing the maximum number of sea days possible, given her size, capabilities and seasonal restrictions imposed by the challenging subarctic conditions. This demand is expected to increase with a more capable vessel.