University of Alaska Fairbanks/Sikuliaq Ship Operations

R/V Sikuliaq由国家科学基金会所有，由阿拉斯加大学费尔班克斯渔业和海洋科学学院运营，是美国学术研究舰队的一部分。美国科学家和国际海洋学界通过大学-国家海洋实验室系统(UNLS)使用Sikuliaq。这份船舶运营提案要求提供必要的资金，以支持NSF资助的2018年R/V Sikuliaq海上运营，目前海上运营总天数为190天，目前为153天。这些由NSF资助的船日是为了支持2018财年的10个研究项目。社区R/V Sikuliaq的主要智力和技术优势是支持NSF同行评审的海洋研究和教育项目的推进。特别是，该船舶运营方案支持2018年计划的12次巡航，为展示Sikuliaq通过运营这艘最先进的船舶在全球范围内完成的海洋观测、收集和测量样本和数据的能力提供了一个极好的机会。这项建议的智力和技术价值进一步被船上科学家进行的研究项目的智力和技术价值所放大。2018年，Sikuliaq将支持美国国家科学基金会在东太平洋和北冰洋发起的10个研究邮轮，开展物理海洋学、海洋生态学、海洋化学和海洋观测方面的研究。NSF赞助的研究(包括海洋观测倡议研究)将占到Sikuliaq今年工作的71%(176天)。其余的工作将由海军(41天，17%)和北太平洋研究委员会(28天，11%)提供支持。每个计划都贡献了自己独特的智力和技术优势，并得到了Sikuliaq行动的支持。拟议的工作构成了对共享使用的研究和教育基础设施的高度协作、多学科和多机构的使用。2018年将是Sikuliaq根据极地代码法规在北极水域工作的第一个季节，这将很好地测试该船在遵守严格的极地代码规则的同时支持北极任务的能力。作为联合国最不发达国家联盟的特许会员，UAF积极参与与科学家和资助机构协调考察船的运营，以便船上的能力能够最好地满足整个社区当前和预期的研究需求。通过运营和维护基础设施，UAF运营Sikuliaq所带来的一系列研究项目产生了深远而广泛的影响。这一努力对于促进培训和学习、促进对科学技术的理解和向决策者提供信息至关重要。UAF拟议的Sikuliaq运营使来自全国和国际的机构项目能够直接执行NSF的使命，促进科学、工程和教育的进步，造福于国家。作为海洋科学家的共享资源，Sikuliaq同样为这些科学家及其本国机构的教育、培训和外联任务作出贡献。最后，作为运营锡库利亚克的更广泛影响的一部分，我们定期与阿拉斯加原住民社区和自给自足猎人(例如阿拉斯加爱斯基摩捕鲸委员会)接触，以确保这些团体、科学界和R/V锡库利亚克之间的富有成效的协调。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

R/V Sikuliaq is owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, as part of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet. Sikuliaq is used by scientists in the U.S. and by the international oceanographic community through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). This Ship Operations proposal requests funding necessary to support NSF-funded R/V Sikuliaq operations in CY2018, which currently amount to 153 days out of a total of 190 operational days at sea. These NSF-funded ship days are in support of 10 research projects for CY2018.communityThe overarching intellectual and technical merit of R/V Sikuliaq is in supporting the advancement of NSF peer-reviewed oceanographic research and education programs. In particular, the twelve cruises planned for CY2018 supported by this Ship Operations proposal provide an excellent opportunity to display Sikuliaq's capability in oceanographic observation, collection, and measurement of samples and data accomplished on a global scale through operation of this state-of-the-art vessel. The intellectual and technical merit of this proposal is further amplified by the combined intellectual and technical merit of research projects undertaken by scientists onboard. During 2018, Sikuliaq will support ten NSF-sponsored research cruises in the eastern Pacific and Arctic Oceans to conduct research in physical oceanography, marine ecology, marine chemistry, and ocean observing. NSF sponsored research (including Ocean Observing Initiative research) will account for 71% (176 days) of Sikuliaq's work this year. The remainder of the work will be supported by the Navy (41 days, 17%), and the North Pacific Research Board (28 days, 11%). Each program contributes its own unique intellectual and technical merit, which are supported by Sikuliaq operations.The proposed work constitutes strongly collaborative, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional use of the shared-use research and education infrastructure. CY2018 will be Sikuliaq's first season working in Arctic waters under the Polar Code regulations, which will provide a good test of the vessel's capabilities to support missions in the Arctic while adhering to the strict Polar Code rules. As a charter member of UNOLS, UAF is actively involved in coordinating research vessel operations with scientists and funding agencies so shipboard capabilities can best meet the current and anticipated research needs of the entire community. The spectrum of research projects enabled by UAF's operation of Sikuliaq achieves far-reaching broader impacts through the operation and maintenance of infrastructure. This effort is critical to the advancement of training and learning, scientific and technological understanding, and informing policy makers. UAF's proposed operation of Sikuliaq enables institutional programs from across the nation and internationally to directly implement NSF's mission to promote advancement of science, engineering and education for the benefit of the nation. As a shared-use resource for ocean scientists, Sikuliaq similarly contributes to the education, training and outreach missions of those scientists and their home institutions. Finally, as part of the broader impacts in operating Sikuliaq, we regularly engage with Alaska Native communities and subsistence hunters (e.g., the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission) to ensure the productive coordination between these groups, the scientific community, and R/V Sikuliaq.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.