A SAFE vessel: Advancing research capabilities to the Gulf Stream

一艘安全的船只：提高墨西哥湾流的研究能力

• 批准号: 1317290
• 负责人: Cindy Van Dover
• 金额: $ 14.11万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-07-01 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1317290&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SAFE; vessel; Advancing; research; capabilities

Intellectual MeritThe Marine Laboratory of the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, is awarded a grant to purchase a 27' research vessel to access near-shore and offshore waters from Beaufort NC to the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras on a daily basis. The vessel can also be trailered to access points along the North Carolina coast and beyond and will be available to the oceanographic research community at large for research on the eastern seaboard. Scientific research conducted from the vessel will focus on the Cape Hatteras offshore region and the coastal ocean and the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound estuarine system. The Labrador Current and Gulf Stream converge at Cape Hatteras, creating a dynamic oceanographic feature in which warm and cool waters mix. The Cape Hatteras region continues to receive scientific attention as a biogeographic barrier between the Western North Atlantic Warm and Temperate (Carolina) and Boreal provinces, as a zone of high primary productivity and micro-zooplankton grazing, as a source of carbon flux to slope sediments, and as an area of on-going and projected commercial interests. Research projects using the vessel include study of the distribution, abundance, population structure, acoustic ecology, and behavior of pelagic cetaceans in the Hatteras region, the ecological physiology of transparent midwater organisms, and transport mechanisms of commercially important species spawned offshore to inshore nursery grounds and transport of pollutants from offshore activities into sensitive inshore habitats.Broader ImpactsResearch undertaken from the new vessel will focus on biophysical studies that can be used to inform assessment of environmental impacts across jurisdictional boundaries and inform management and policy decisions. Wind farms, military training activities, fisheries, shipping, oil and gas development, mineral extraction, and living resource protection continue to expand into near-shore and off-shore waters; the vessel will enable studies of the biological consequences of these and other human activities and of the dynamics and processes of pelagic and benthic ecosystems. Near-shore and off-shore research will address national priorities relating to stewardship of natural ocean resources through studies of the abundance, and distribution of marine species (including endangered marine mammals and sea turtles), their relationships to habitats and other species, and the impacts of human activity on these taxa, especially within the context of predictive modeling in response to environmental change. The Marine Laboratory has vigorous undergraduate and graduate training programs and most students in these programs engage in field research with their faculty mentors. Students working on near-shore and offshore studies will be trained in seamanship and at-sea research methods using this vessel.Marine Laboratory, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University: http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/

知识专长杜克大学尼古拉斯环境学院海洋实验室获得一笔赠款，用于购买一艘27英尺的研究船，每天从北卡罗来纳州博福特到哈特拉斯角附近的墨西哥湾流访问近岸和近海沃茨。该船还可以拖车到北卡罗来纳州海岸及更远的接入点，并将提供给整个海洋研究界在东海岸进行研究。 从船上进行的科学研究将集中在哈特拉斯角近海地区和沿海海洋以及Albemarle-Pamlico Sound河口系统。 拉布拉多海流和墨西哥湾流在哈特拉斯角汇合，创造了一个温暖和凉爽沃茨混合的动态海洋学特征。哈特拉斯角地区作为西北大西洋暖温带（卡罗莱纳）和北方省份之间的地理屏障，作为高初级生产力和微型浮游动物放牧区，作为斜坡沉积物碳通量的来源，以及作为正在进行和预计的商业利益区，继续受到科学界的关注。 使用该船的研究项目包括研究哈特拉斯地区远洋鲸类的分布、丰度、种群结构、声学生态学和行为，透明中层水生物的生态生理学，以及将近海产卵的重要商业物种迁移到近海育苗场的机制，以及将近海活动产生的污染物迁移到敏感的近海生境的机制。将侧重于生物物理研究，这些研究可用于为跨管辖边界的环境影响评估提供信息，并为管理和政策决定提供信息。风力发电场、军事训练活动、渔业、航运、石油和天然气开发、矿物开采和生物资源保护继续扩展到近岸和离岸沃茨;该船将使人们能够研究这些活动和其他人类活动的生物后果以及海洋水层和海底生态系统的动态和过程。 近岸和离岸研究将通过研究海洋物种（包括濒危海洋哺乳动物和海龟）的丰度和分布、它们与生境和其他物种的关系以及人类活动对这些生物分类群的影响，特别是在针对环境变化的预测性建模方面，处理与自然海洋资源管理有关的国家优先事项。 海洋实验室有充满活力的本科生和研究生培训课程，这些课程的大多数学生与他们的教师导师一起从事实地研究。 从事近岸和近海研究的学生将使用该船接受航海技术和海上研究方法的培训。杜克大学尼古拉斯环境学院海洋实验室：http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/