News & Announcements
Meet the crew: Survey Technician Sophia Tigges
In this article, we hear from Sophia Tigges, a survey technician aboard NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown. As a survey technician she is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the functionality and operational efficiency of all scientific data collection equipment aboard the ship. In her own words, she shares her journey from a young, budding science enthusiast to joining the nation’s leading federal scientific agency. Enjoy!
Contract awarded to Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors LLC to build two new oceanographic ships for NOAA
NOAA’s effort to recapitalize its aging fleet of research ships took a major step forward today with the U.S. Navy’s award of a $178,082,877 contract to Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors LLC, Houma, Louisiana, for the detailed design and construction of two new oceanographic ships for the agency. NOAA is acquiring the vessels through an agreement with the Naval Sea Systems Command, a leader in building, providing and procuring large research ships for the nation's research fleet.
Two new oceanographic vessels will join the NOAA fleet
NOAA is in the process of acquiring two new oceanographic ships as part of the agency’s fleet rebuilding effort. Once in service, the new ships will support a wide variety of missions, ranging from general oceanographic research and exploration to marine life, climate and ocean ecosystem studies. The first ship, to be named Oceanographer, will be homeported in Honolulu. The second ship, to be named Discoverer, will be assigned a homeport at a future date.
NOAA launches major field campaign to improve weather and climate prediction
On January 7, NOAA launched a six-week scientific campaign from the island of Barbados in the Caribbean, using multiple human-piloted and autonomous vehicles, buoys, radar and computer modeling to investigate how the ocean, atmospher, and shallow clouds work together to create the weather and climate we live in. Called ATOMIC, or the Atlantic Tradewind Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Interaction Campaign, the mission is the U.S.NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow concludes busy field season
The 2019 field season was a busy one for NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow, which logged 23,500 nautical miles--more than enough to circumnavigate the earth. Along the way, the ship conducted 757 bottom trawl surveys, enough to trawl all the way from the ship's Newport, R.I. homeport to Detroit, Mich. The ship also measured oceanographic conditions at 935 sampling stations and surveyed previously unexplored areas of the ocean, some a mile deep, with remotely operated vehicles.Meet the Crew: Commander Sarah Duncan, NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson
Long before she was Commander Sarah Duncan, the commanding officer of NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson, she was just Sarah. She and her cousins, seated around the dining room table playing cribbage with her grandfather, hung onto his every word as he shared tales from his adventures at sea.