Marine Debris UAS Survey

Day 16

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:44:40 +0000

"Bridge, my feet are wet!"

"And that was just the toilet bowl!"

"I know, we could have snap off winglets!"

Three memorable lines from the cruise that keep getting repeated and bring laughter every time. They all three have a common denominator; high wind and seas. Those are now a thing of the past. We woke up this morning and the wind was still blowing. As the day progressed, the wind and sea started to lay down. The sun came out, the skies were blue and the day was perfect for flying, spotting debris or small boat operations. Only, we were done with all that work and just cruising home. The FAA would not allow us to perform UAS flight operations below 27 degrees N and we are now far below that. Kauai could be seen off our starboard as the sun was setting. The day was spent packing bags, dismantling the aircraft, cleaning floors and finishing reports.

In the afternoon, the first fish of the cruise, a Mahi Mahi, was caught on a line that trailed out behind the stern. We were spoiled at supper time to steak and crab legs. A Red Footed Boobie (that's a bird) came by at sunset and flew the thermal off the bow, showing off his superior flying skills and unique design. The final day at sea ended as the sun sunk into the water and we were treated to something we had never witnessed; the green flash.

The cruise is over. Tomorrow morning, we arrive back in Pearl Harbor. Thanks for following our blog. If any of you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here or leave a message. We will try and respond once we are back home.

Check out our home page for more information about the UAS and what else Airborne Technologies, Inc. does. Also, while you are here, check out the TrekMe site. It is free and a cool way to share your adventures. Look for improvements soon and give feedback on the web site. Thanks,

Tim, Mike and Curt

Day 15

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:33:32 +0000

The Pacific Ocean is HUGE. Covering roughly 65.3 million square miles, it is a formidable untameable environment. An OceanTrek Research GhostNet buoy is 18 inches in diameter or roughly 250 sq in. Curt says that 1 what ever comes after trillion of our buoys could fit in the Pacific Ocean. We found one yesterday that had been out there for over 2 years drifting around on an old fishing net. We had help of course.

The GhostNet buoys transmit their GPS position twice a day to a satellite which then relays it to a ground station where it is sent through the Internet to ATI's server. Our server parses the data and stores it in a database. All buoy data can then be queried online on an interactive map. If you go to the map and select from the drop down menu, buoy # 1007368, you will see the buoy we found floating by itself in the middle of the North Pacific. We got an update position from the buoy when we were approx. 6 miles away. By the time we got close, an hour had passed and we knew it was drifting southeast. Curt, ran down from the flying bridge (I thought he was not feeling well) and in a few minutes appeared back on top and said we needed to turn a bit to the right to 240 degrees and we should see the buoy in about 1/3 of a mile. (His math skills are incredible, I thought. I praised him later and he laughed and said had Googled "how far" and put in the buoys last two position reports to figure out the drift speed and direction... still, genius)

Calling down to the helm on the radio, we asked them to make the slight turn west. The Big Eye team was on station along with the UAS team and a few others who were wondering if we could locate it. Shortly after making the turn, with numerous pairs of binoculars and eyeballs and Big Eye binoculars looking, Curt suddenly pointed to the starboard and said, "What's that?" He had found it! You must realize the difficulty in seeing much of anything on a day like yesterday. Wind was blowing up to 25 kts, the sun was creating sun glints in the direction we were looking and the sea state was confused with swell, waves, foam and breaking waves. A needle in a haystack is an easier find.

We maneuvered the ship near the buoy and discovered that the buoy was no longer attached to a net. There was a line hanging down and the hull was covered with barnacles. The decision was made to leave it drift and continue to provide valuable drift data for researchers. Curt won himself a GhostNet teeshirt for his discovery.

We are heading back to Honolulu now. The winds were blowing up to 30 kts this morning and the seas were still high, too risky for UAS or small boat operations. The decision was made to head back. We will be traveling through the night, all day tomorrow and should arrive early Wed. morning.

Day 13 & 14

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:23:54 +0000

This is the weekend report from sea. Days sort of seem to run together when you are doing field work and this cruise was no exception. It is hard to believe that tomorrow we will start our trek back to Honolulu. We plan on arriving Wed at noon.

The past two days have continued to be windy with higher seas. We have only been able to fly twice this weekend. Both flights were performed in winds that were 20 kts or so and neither one of them proved very productive. We were recording flight data on both flights though and we are able to reply the data in the flight simulator for review. The first flight was made using the launcher and the second was hand launched. With winds blowing that hard, a lot of turbulence is created near the bow of the ship. This turbulence first creates a tail wind, then a swirling wind, followed by a strong updraft and finally about 8 ft from the ship at rail height, the air becomes a cleaner headwind. The most critical time of flight is during takeoff and this proved to be true on both flights. We have defined the upper limit for safe flight operations off the ships bow.

On the first flight, Curt decided to make a quick return for landing after a launch takeoff where the wind almost pushed the UAS into the water. Despite the rough seas, Curt landed Malolo 2 safely but before the small boat was able to retrieve it, a combination of swell and wind caused the aircraft to flip upside down. This was not an issue for the aircraft since it is waterproof but with the winglets now upside down in the water, the recovery of the UAS was much more delicate. At some point both winglets were damaged. Also in these sea conditions it begins to get difficult to safely launch small boats. So the risk factor was up for both the UAS and the safe boat crew. We repaired the damage to the winglets but further operations were shut down due to the increasing wind speed.

This morning, the winds were still around 20 kts when we attempted another flight. Malolo 2 was hand launched this time and had the shortest flight (if you can even call it that) of its history. Just after clearing the rail of the ship, the wind caught the starboard wing and rolled the aircraft upside down and it augered in. It landed on its feet but was pretty close to the ship which was making way at a few knots. Curt, always resourceful, added power and we watched Malolo 2 live up to it's name. Just like the "flying fish" Malolo 2 was able to fly and to swim. With a smile on his face, Curt "water-taxied" a few feet and was clear of the ship. The aircraft was undamaged but when being handed off from the safe boat to the ship, a winglet was once again dinged and it came loose. Bringing the safe boat back to the ship and tying up along side in 20 plus kt winds and rolling swell with waves on top is not an easy task. Once along side, the ship and safe boat are not always going up and down at the same rate. During this maneuver, the crew on both boats must carefully time the hand-off of the UAS. The winglet was once again repaired within the hour, but the winds had come up even higher. The Sette's commander cancelled small boat and UAS operations for the remainder of the day.

Tomorrow morning is our last chanced to fly. The winds are not expected to lay down much but we are hoping for one last sucessful flight to end this cruise.

Day 12

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 04:09:17 +0000

Defining the envelope

We flew today. Winds continued to blow20-25 kts during the morning so we postponed flights until afternoon. Once that decision was made, we decided to assemble the launcher andif winds were under 25 kts in the afternoon, we would fly Malolo 1off the launcher. We had two objectives:

Test launcher operations from aship.
Push operational weather envelopeup a few knotches to determine what the upper limits for normalshipboard flight operations should be. Specifically, we wanted tofind wind and sea state limits.

The safe boat generally has a limit ofaround 25 kts winds. Getting the safe boat off the ship and back onboard gets difficult in higher winds and seas so the risk factor ofinjury or damage occurring goes up significantly. For theResolution, the risk factor with higher winds comes into play withthe take-off stage, landing stage and the recovery stage. Once inflight, the Resolution UAS does not care how hard the winds areblowing as long as they are not extremely gusty. The video data feedcoming from the UAS has a diminishing return once the winds get above15 kts as the sea state starts to hide objects with foam and breakingwaves. Other sensors we might use, may not be affected by sea state. We wanted to test for reasonable wind limits and find out whatwould cause the highest risk towards operations.

The afternoon plan was slightly delayedwhen the ship called an abandon ship drill right after lunch. Windshad not come down significantly but they remained under 25 kts so wedecided lauanch was a go. With the safe boat in the water, wereadied Malolo 1 on the launcher. The winds were gusting on the bowas they hit the ship and the bridge behind us and caused an swirlingeddy. Once off the end of the launcher though, the UAS would findclean steady air blowing just over 20 kts right on it's nose. All ithad to do was make it off the launcher.... which it did just fine. Malolo 1 jumped into the air and climbed out sharply as Curt appliedpower. Relieved to be flying, the UAS would have been happy to gosomewhere but Curt cut power and flying a very fast wind blowndownwind, turned base and then final where Malolo 1 once again hadit's nose to the wind and relative speed over the water down to justa few knots. Timing the waves and swell, Curt landed it in the oceanlike it was another day at the flying field. The safe boat came upfrom behind to retrieve it. Watching them from the bow of the ship,we would occasionally lose sight if both the Resolution and the safeboat as they disappeared behind a swell. During the recovery, thesafe boat's hull came down on a wing and damaged the wingletattachment. Other than that, everything seemed to work fine, eventhe hand off between the safe boat and the ship.

We took Malolo 1 back up to the bow anddid a quick 15 minute repair on the winglet. It was readied forflight on the launcher again and was soon airborne for it's secondflight of the day. Happy with the results of the launcher tests andsuccessful take-offs with winds in excess of 20 kts, Curt brought theResolution around for landing after performing a beautiful loop. Lowand slow over the water, with it's head to the wind, the Resolutionwas once again ready for touchdown when a rouge wave reached up andgrabbed the left wing. Malolo 1 did a graceful wing stand and endedupside down in the ocean. The repaired winglet was once againneeding some repair but we called it a successful day and wrapped upoperations.

Overall, the fights were verysuccessful. We proved the functionality of the launcher, testing itin winds higher than originally planned for. We found that landingwith 20-25 kt winds in the ocean has the expected increased risk,although not necessarily a show stopper. The recovery with the safeboat was doable but also has increased risk of possible damage andthe hand-off from the safe boat to the ship needs to be thoughtthrough a bit more as that exposed but the airframe and the personnelinvolved to a higher level of damage or injury.

Tomorrow, we plan on continuing flightoperations. This time with Malolo 2. In the meantime, we have maderepairs to Malolo 1's winglet and will have it ready for flighttomorrow if needed.

Day 11

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:05:11 +0000

Heading south finally! During thenight, we had made our way back to the 158 Longitude line that we hadtraveled north on from Hawaii. At 0800 we intersected the lineat 36 degrees N latitude and started taking CTD readings again every15 miles as we headed south to 35 N. Every minute of latitudeis 1 NM. There are minutes in one degree so that would make 4CTD drops for every degree. Ship speed is roughly 10 kts perhour in nice weather which means it should take about 6 hrs to travel1 degree of latitude. Add in the time it takes to stop and do theCTD drops and having to slow down for a bit of bad weather and yousoon have taken up most the daylight hours to travel 1 degree.

The Big Eye team was on watch againtoday. This afternoon, they spotted a buoy with a couple of redflags flying from a pole or antenna. A safe boat was launched toinvestigate. There was no net attached, the marker buoy was the kindused for long-line fishing. They decided to attach a GhostNet buoyto the buoy so we can track it's movement over the next months oryears. That makes the second GhostNet buoy that was attached. Youcan follow their GPS track here. The buoy numbers to search for are;15FXZ (Hawser line), 10017329 (longline buoy). You can also see ourships track if you select, 10017325. The TrekMe site you are now onis using the satellite relayed position messages that are being sentfrom a GhostNet buoy we have tied down on deck.

We are currently headed southwesttowards another GhostNet buoy (10007368 ) that has been in the waterfor almost 4 years, attached to piece of derelict fishing net. Weare presently 450 miles northeast of it's position. The current planis to check the buoy on the way back to Honolulu and possibly replaceit with a fresh buoy or retrieve the piece of net. Watching the buoytrack, it is evident that it is been in a gyre for a number of weeks. It is possible that we will find other debris in the same area.

Check out this video of the Malolo 2 landing in the Pacific Ocean next to the OSCAR SETTEE. The video was from a couple days ago when we last flew.

The weather looks promising for UASflights tomorrow.

Day 10

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:33:22 +0000

0600 - We woke up the morning tobreaking seas and 25 kt winds. During the night, the winds hadcontinued blowing 20-30 kts which caused the seas to build. Sleeping was still possible for us but the folks towards the bow hada harder time. Our room is towards the stern where the ride issmoother. The winds have continued throughout the day to blow20-30 kts with higher gusts. The swell has built up as well anddepending on our direction, makes for an interesting ride. All UASand small boat operations were canceled for the day.

The Big Eyes team continued their surveyup on the flight deck. Dressed in layers of their warmest clothes,with gloves and hats, they still are chilled after their 2 hourshift. This is not a Hawaiian cruise, despite the fact that wedeparted from Honolulu. Despite the limited visibility with the highseas, they continued to spot pieces of debris which usually showed upin clumps. No sightings would occur for a while and then suddenly,there would be a number of items coming by the ship. They are seeing everything from fishing debris to 55 gallon drums to a toilet seat. There are a lot of plastic pieces, bottles and misc. The big eventof the day (so far) was when they spotted a hawser (barge towing)line. It was tangled up in a mass that was about 3-4 meters across. The yellow line undulated in the swell and waves and would go in andout of view. While they kept track of it, we decided that we wouldtry and tag the line with a GhostNet buoy. Small boat operations were not advisable so it was decided to bring the ship along side and pull part of it on board to attach the buoy and then let it go. A hawser line, while a large mass of debris, is not a huge threat to marine mammals or coral reefs. Tracking the movement of debris is very valuable information to help researchers determine how debris moves about the ocean. The buoys are attached to the debris and then transmit their position twice a day via satellite. In this manner, the debris can be tracked a it moves around in the ocean. The tagging was successful and we continued on our way.

Late afternoon, we turned our course westward and will continue this direction throughout the night. The turn put the swell and wind on our starboard side so the ship is rolling much steeper than it has been. Sleeping tonight might be interesting, good thing they have "roll bars" on the top bunks.

Day 9

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:57:35 +0000

Woke up this morning to sunshine which was soon clouded over. We prepped for 2 morning flights and during the final radio range test, we noticed some glitches in the radio controls. After trouble shooting for 5 minutes, we asked for a 30 minute break while we continued to find the problem. Right after calling for a break in ops, we entered a rain squall and had to break-down all the equipment (monitor, computers, DV recorders) that were sitting out on deck and get them back into their waterproof cases. The winds came up as well so we decided to call off the morning flight ops. That gave us time to continue our troubleshooting. Ends up that everything checked out fine the second time. Not sure what was causing the interference as we have not seen that before, but we will continue flights with a bit of caution.

It is now about 11am and we will re-evaluate the weather situation after lunch for possible afternoon flight ops. When the winds get above 15 kts, the seas are disturbed enough that seeing objects in the water becomes difficult. That holds true for the video on-board the UAS as well as for the Big Eyes folks looking from the bridge. The UAS can handle higher winds but the risk factor for take-off and landings increase. Curt is making use of this downtime to work out some new code for the autonomous flight computer. We will be trying different methods of surveying autonomously while the ship is under way. The dynamic nature of this type of operations makes creating an adaptable survey method challenging.

1300 hrs - Winds have picked up to 20-25 kts and are climbing. The seas are building and visibility is down due to rain. Flight ops for the day are canceled. We continue on our zig-zag transect as we crisscross the front in a westward direction. With everything ready to fly, Curt is the only one doing any work today as he continues to refine software. Look for pictures to be added throughout the day.

1900 hrs - Gale force winds this afternoon and evening. The seas are building but the ride is comfortable. Peak winds were over 40 kts gusting to mid 40's. Not a good day for flying or small boat operations. We are taking SST and Cl readings as we travel and are tracking the front as we head west. Weather maps show a persistent high pressure system to the west and it is evident we are on the back side of the low. If winds and seas calm down through the night, we will continue with UAS ops tomorrow.

Day 8

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:15:11 +0000

The source of our trouble was the speed controller. After moving it to a less insulated position in Malolo 2's center section and installing a heat sink to dissipate the heat, our flight times improved dramatically. We flew two flights today with times of 47 minutes. As we are very busy with UAS Ops we haven't had time to upload photos. But Allan, Our Big Eyes team leader took some great shots of our take-offs and landings with his camera motor-drive whirring. We'll post them as soon as we can!

Day 7

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 06:42:22 +0000

Today was our first day of UAS Ops. Just over seven hundred miles from the nearest point of land, the ATI team successfully completed three launches and three recoveries from the Oscar E. Sette.

We sailed clear of the fog and set up our equipment on the bow. After launching support boats, we went down our check list preparing to hand launch the Malolo 1 off the port (left) side. Tim donned his NOAA sanctioned protective gear and with a short jog and toss, the UAS was airbornethe first launch of a UAS off a NOAA ship. Curt, our seasoned RC pilot, climbed flew several passes by the ship. As he turned for another run, the motor cut out. Unfazed, Curt performed a flawless dead-stick landing next to the ship. Our support boat cruised up to it, the UAS was lifted from the water and brought back to the Sette. After transferring it back onboard ship, Tim and Mike carried it back up the the bow to be inspected and prepped for another launch.

The second launch was uneventful and Curt again flew past the ship, catching our chase boat and the Sette in our live video feed. After five minutes we again lost power and Curt performed another forced landing.Concerned with what we suspected was a battery problem, but happy with the performance of the aircraft and the recovery crew, we decided to launch Malolo 2.

Tim launched it over the bow and it climbed smartly up and away. After several passes of the ship and a flight time of around seven minutes, it's motor shut down as well. It was recovered, taken down to the bench and taken apart. We soon eliminated the batteries as our problem and now strongly suspect that the motor speed controllers have been overheating. Making our UAS watertight AND providing adequate cooling for hot electronic components can be a challenge. We are working to take care of that in time for operations tomorrow.

Day 6

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 05:15:13 +0000

Fog. We woke up this morning in light fog and were allowed a quick peak of a sunrise before the fog settled to the water for most the day. Debris sightings continued but were often limited to 100 meters or less on each side of the ship. The last of the CTD readings will be taken shortly as we are approaching 34 30" N. At that point, the ship will be turned back to the southeast in hopes of being back out of the fog by morning. We crossed into cooler waters last night which caused the fog. UAS operations are on hold until we get a bit more visibility and ceiling. Hopefully, tomorrow will be our first UAS flights.

We (UAS team) saw our first net this morning! Curt was boss of the day again and let us go outside for a break. Despite the fog, we were still able to spot a net fragment floating by the ship. If we could have gotten to a boat hook quick enough, we would have recovered our first debris piece. That would have made good copy for the Resolution UAS. A picture will be posted this evening.

Curt contacted a friend of his via the internet that does 3D modeling for computer graphics. Curt sent him a .pdf of the Oscar E. Sette deck plans and within hours, was given back a 3D model of the ship we are on. The 3D model will be imported into our flight simulating software where we will then be able to see a real-time simulated view of the UAS flying off the ship and over the water. Too bad we can't post the graphics real-time on the web, you will have to trust us that it is pretty cool. Curt has nice connections!

Mike and I continued to prepare both airframes for their initial flight. Malolo 1 is ready to go for the first flight of the morning. It is the tried and proven aircraft that we have flown numerous times before and the one we did sea trials with last Dec. Malolo 2 is the second generation Resolution class airframe. We hope to do a maiden flight with that aircraft in the afternoon if weather cooperates.

The sunset tonight was uneventful. We think it took place because it started getting dark but fog was obscuring the sky. We did learn that standing on the bow when the ship is in fog is a good place to burst your eardrums (or something more embarrassing). The very loud fog horn goes off every two minutes. We decided the bow was not a good place to watch the foggy sunset.