Transcripts
Winds of Change
Seeing beneath the waves (0:44)
It allows us to see beneath the surface of the ocean and for an extended period of time. So for example satellites can give us the surface data. We just can’t see down below. And so the gliders go down from the sea surface right near the seafloor, so we start to get that picture of the subsurface. They stay out for up to a month, so longer then a ship could go out for a few days. They also send the data back in near real time. That means we send it back via satellite and cell phone, and we can see it right in our lab. We can also tell it where to go. We can change its mission. And usually if you put a piece of equipment out it stays in place or it samples exactly the same way. We can be adaptive. We can change the mission of the glider.
Ten years of change in the California Current (0:42)
The California Current varies, we know, on ten to twenty year cycles. But it has really been remarkable. The last ten years we have seen about three or four of the biggest changes we have seen. Starting with the ’97-’98 El Niño, big, biggest one on record. Big signal. Then we had what we call an invasion of subartic water from the north in 2002, another big signal. And then finally in 2005, delayed upwelling, lack of productivity. 2006, some of the strongest winds we have had on record. So it, really, (has been) ten years of change that I think is more then we been come to expect for the California Current.
Ocean waters are changing around the world (1:09)
Our system right off Oregon here, part of the California Current, is linked to the North Pacific circulation. So just as we see changes in the tropics and the El Niño type signals, we are also seeing shifts in the winds. So these would be changing the position of the jet stream north and south. And there is the idea that that could be caused by global warming. That’ll change our local winds. The other thing that is happening worldwide is that the ocean is getting warmer at the surface. It is still cool at depth, so what you get is a stronger stratification or a stronger difference between the surface and the subsurface. That causes there to be less mixing, and that actually is leading toward a decrease in the oxygen levels at depth throughout the North Pacific. I should also say that our winds are changing. We think they are becoming stronger and more persistent in the summer. And that has been seen off northwest Africa too. So that is a sister system to ours off Oregon. And so around the world we are seeing some consistent changes.
Forecasting ocean weather (0:46)
What we are doing is building a network of these autonomous samplers in the ocean. So just like we have the one glider here. And we are putting two out Monday. What we really want to do is build a ladder of these along the West Coast. So you might imagine ten or fifteen of these flying back and forth. That data would come into a central system. We would then combine it with models to give essentially forecasts of the ocean weather. That is what we call an ocean observing system. We want to be able to give a state of the ocean and tell you what it will be like tomorrow or perhaps the next week or the next month. So then fisherman and others can really start to use that data and information to plan.
Ocean observing systems (1:01)
What we found with the fishing community is they are very interested in where the fronts are. And fronts are strong changes in temperatures, as you go out from the coast, it is actually cold water near the coast and warm off shore. They want to know where that boundary is. That is where the fishing is usually concentrated. That is where the organisms are. Second thing is when they set their nets, it really depends on how fast the currents are. They don’t like to set them in swift currents. We can tell them where the strong jets are, the strong currents. For the recreational fishermen, as they leave in their charter boats, they leave the ports and have to cross the bars, where there can be high waves. We can help with predictions about currents and wave heights that should make that a safer activity. We have also been able to help search and rescue missions, so if you know where the currents are going, if there is somebody lost overboard or a disabled ship, you can actually help track where that might go. So there is a benefit in safety there.
Grasping for Air
Terrain Makes a Difference (1:03)
The Andrews Forest itself is a mountainous old growth ecosystem of Douglas fir, really a spectacular place. And like most of western Oregon, it’s characterized by having mountains and mountainous terrain, beautiful forests all across the mountains. For decades, literally decades, ecologists have explored wonderful interactions between the forests and the landscape in the Andrew Forest. About a decade ago, a number of us had an epiphany as we were scrambling up and down the slopes, that the landscape itself is playing a terrific role. It has a huge impact on the way the forest interacts. And by virtue of being in a mountainous system, this forest is different than it would be it weren’t in a mountain environment. And yet we don’t have the tools to do measurement about how forests behave in mountains the way that ecologists do on flat land.
Trees Have a Short Term Memory (1:24)
At nighttime when this cold air is draining down the valley, that air is picking up the carbon dioxide that is being released mostly from below the soil, some from the foliage and some of it from the stems of the trees. Just because of the processes of life going on, the breakdown and biological activity below the soil. So we measure that respired carbon dioxide, which tells us a very important component of the carbon cycle. Trees gain carbon dioxide during the daytime through photosynthesis, but a good fraction of that carbon dioxide is lost again by respiration. And being able to measure that respiration term is a very important feature in itself. But second, within that stream of carbon dioxide we’re able to distinguish between the two stable isotopes of carbon. And they respond to some of the history that the trees have experienced over the last few days. So there is a signal in those isotopes which tells us more about how those trees have been exposed to stress, water stress, temperature stress, during the few days before that carbon was respired away again.
Where’s the Carbon? Look Down (0:43)
Soils are very important overall to the global carbon budget. It’s not appreciated that most of the CO2 emissions that come from land come from soils. In fact, ten times as much than as come from fossil fuels. So soils store a tremendous amount of carbon, and they are especially important in thinking about what are the sources of CO2 emissions. In the forest, soils provide the nutrients that support above-ground growth, wood, foliage that allows carbon fixation. Trees obtain their nutrients and water and so forth from soil.
Assimilate This (0:53)
From a student’s perspective, I like to look at the ecosystem-scale processes with coupling between hydrology and atmospheric processes. Now, my experience with the airshed work will build upon that interest and enable me to have the tools required to synthesize these data sets. There is an enormous amount of data coming in, and in order to answer those complex questions, you need a very complex system to manage the data, in order to get the simple answers. Being able to, one, operate a sensor network in complex terrain is key. Two, being able to assimilate the data and understand what they mean is another skill that’s hard to gain. I think that’s the real benefit of being involved with the airshed project is just the experience of being out deploying sensor networks, managing experiments, troubleshooting sensors and analyzing the data.
More Than Machines
Trials with TekBots (2:15)
(sound)
Tawalin ‘TJ’ Opastrakoon: I am trying to run the race maze with my TekBot, the robot that I made from the class, and I tried to do my, um, follow the maze and finish it.
(sound: frustrated “auggh!”)
TJ: Ahhh, it didn’t work like I expected. Outside it’s like too much light, and the environment, so it didn’t work (laugh).
(sound: “...set, go!”)
Ryan Albright: It’s kind of a platform for learning, it gives us something to base off of, because, and it’s kind of interesting, because you get to work with robots your first year. We’re building it. We’re designing it. I’m part of the OSU robotics club, and so once a week I go there, and I start building some more stuff. Everybody starts with the basic frame: two wheels, two motors. You get a certain circuit board that comes with stuff. You can purchase other ones from the TekBot lab itself. We all get pretty much the same stuff, but you can put your mind into stuff and really work it.
(music)
TJ: I really learn from it because I never had any experience with electrical stuff or doing the circuit board; it’s, like, all my first time putting this stuff together, and so once I learn to try to make something work, it just, like, makes me really happy, and I just like want to learn more and more and add this stuff to my robot to make it function more.
Ryan: You can base a lot of knowledge off this. We’re working with sensors. We’re working with just basic electronics. You get to solder on circuit boards. You get to design your own stuff. You can use digital logic or you can program a chip. What it does for learning is, it makes it easier, because the engineering program is a tough program, and it gives you kind of something to look forward to while you’re going through all the hard math and science classes.
(sound: “Go!”, TekBot motors)