Virtually all scientific spaces are on the main deck. Scientific storeooms and refrigerator/freezer space are also available to scientific personnel. More information on:
The ship can also accomodate multiple laboratory, refrigeration and storage vans. Vans brought aboard should be constructed to UNOLS specification standards of wiring and constructed to take the readily available power on research vessels. Standard are the 20 ft containers. More information on van setup and power specifications are provided below.
Electronics/Computer Lab: The Electronics/Computer Lab is 610 sq. ft. This is the location for most deck electronics, acoustics, display hardware and science information system (i.e., SEABEAM, ADCP, ODEC BATHY 2000 3.5/12 kHz bathymetric sub-bottom survey system, etc). It is the the primary worksite for the shipboard computer group.
Bio Lab (Analytical/Biochemical): The Bio Lab is 330 sq. ft. and is on the forward port end of the Main Deck level. The lab has its own air conditioning and ventilation system as well as a fume hood and seawater access.
Main Lab: The Main Lab is 1,745 sq. ft. It is a large space that can be set up for many uses. There are fume hoods, two large sinks and an uncontaminated seawater connection. The Main Lab is across from the Bio and Computer Labs on the starboard side has access to the Main Deck.
Hydro Lab: The Hydro Lab is 693 sq. ft. has access to two vans aft via a vestibule. If van entry/exit are designed to mate to the vestibule then van access can be fully enclosed. The PCO2 system, DMS system and radiosonde station take up much of the bench space in the Hydro Lab. Sinks in the Hydro Lab contain an experiment in progress and are not available for washing hands or for pouring fluids down a drain.
Radiosondes Note: The ship does not routinely launch radiosondes or XBT’s. Sampling equipment of that nature is provided by investigating scientists. Vaisala DigiCORA Rawinsonde MW11 compatible with RS80 and RS90 GPS sondes. Launches take aproximately 20 to 30 minutes and an additional 60 to 90 minutes for the balloon to reach maximum altitude. Normally you do not have to continually watch the flight while it is in the air.
Wet Lab: The Wet Lab is 230 sq. ft. and has direct access to the staging bay. The lab is the site for wet work and wet sample preservation. The Wet Lab has a fume hood, sink and uncontaminated seawater source. A Sippican 12 digital XBT system is permanently installed. It is available for general use, but stocks of XBT probes must be supplied by the user. XBT 's or CTD's are commonly used by SEABEAM operations to obtain sound speed information for data reduction and calibration.
Staging Bay: The Staging Bay is 330 sq. ft. sheltered workspace. Clearance from overhead to deck is 18 ft. Roll down doors starboard and aft offer limited protection against weather. Padeye lifting points in the overhead exist. Overhead hoists are installed: 5,000 lb capacity. Height between deck and bottom of gantry hook is 11 ft. at highest working position. The gantry has a 5 ton working capability.
Storerooms
Forward Science Storeroom: The forward science storeroom is 358 sq. ft. and has three tiered shelving installed for storage of boxes, crates and equipment. Equipment can be lowered into this storeroom through an overhead deck hatch.
Science Office: The science off is 65 sq ft.
Aft Storeroom: The aft storeroom is forward of the winch room on the 1st platform deck, some of this space is used as storage space for the Engineering and Survey Departments as well as the Ship’s Exercise Room. A pallet sized hatch to the storeroom opens to the main deck just outboard of the starboard rollup door of the staging bay.
Science Refrigerator/Freezer Space: There is a 63 sq. ft. scientific climate control chamber and freezer on the main deck that is suitable for storing geological cores and biological samples. Both chambers are 7 ft. wide by 9 ft. long by 6.5 ft. high. The freezer is capable of 0 degrees Farenheit, although -1 to -2 Farenheit is the normal operating range range. Temperature may be controlled from 4 to 40 Celsius and uniformity within chamber of 0.5 Celsius. A refrigerated container is not available, but a standard 20 foot container could be accommodated in a number of spots. A refrigerated container could be accommodated provided the power requirements are not excessive. See Van section for additional information. The ship’s cold food storage is NOT available for scientific use.
Additional Laboratory Information
Climate Control
All internal spaces are temperature controlled by a centralized air conditioning and heating system. The system is extensive and complex, with zone-by-zone and room-by-room control. If the ventilation or air conditioning in your room or working space seems to not be operating or not controlled by the pertinent thermostat, please inform your Chief Scientist. Do not resort to system defeating measures like blocking vents. Be aware of ship's air conditioning boundaries and leave these doors shut at all times.
Network Connections
All labs are wired for intranet connection. Note that the ship runs in a Windows NT4 environment. Macintosh and older operating software Windows 98, 95 are not supported. If personnel wish to be connected then they must bring network cables (ca. 15 ft) or a hub and one short cable in order to hook up their computers to the network. It is the scientists responsibility for bringing cables to connect their equipment to the network. IP addresses will be provided for laboratory laptops.
Laboratory Bench Surfaces
The portable lab benches are Formica or something similar. All benches are standard 8 ft. long by 2.7 ft. wide by 3 ft. high. Portable benches and fixed counters have tie down railings mounted around the perimeter. Plywood may be placed on them (and all the counter tops) as needed for securing equipment for your project. All benches are portable and capable of being rearranged as needed to meet individual project space configurations.
Seawater Connections
A seawater connection is available in the Main, Bio/Analytical, Hydro and Wet Labs. Flow rate is 50 gallons per minute. The intake is located in the bow. Seawater temperature and conductivity probes are permanently mounted at the pump suction and are tied to the ships data systems. The labs have an open flange, to connect to the lab's seawater system you must bring another flange to mate to a schedule 80, grey, roughly 4.25 inch, four bolt flange.
Compressed Air
One hundred twenty PSI air available in all labs on all counter tops. Piping size is 3/8 in. at the fittings and 1/2 in. before the quick disconnect. Adapting is possible as long as they are standard sizes. The upper limit cannot be used continuously, it is suitable for running pneumatic tools, but may not be dry or clean enough for laboratory use. Users should plan to supply their own filters if the air is intended for any lab use and construct their own filter apparati.
Horizontal Spacing of Unistrut Tie Downs
In lab spaces, uni-strut mounting channels are equipped on all the bulkheads and overheads. The "Uni-strut" channels are on 2 ft. centers and are spaced 2 ft. on center. The uni-strut network throughout the labs affords additional ways to route and secure scientific cables. It is critical that you move or modify existing wiring and remember to label your wire upon installation and remove it at the end of your cruise. All labs and storerooms are fitted with the standard 2 ft. by 2 ft. 1/2 in. NC bolt-down pattern on deck, accepting bolts which are 1/2 in. deep.
Vans/Shipping Containers
Prior to a van intensive cruise, the Chief Scientist should provide, in advance, a draft van deck placement footprint with approximate weights. This graphic will be used to assess placement with regard to designed ship's stability, deck loading limit and to maximizing available deck space during loading. The plan should take into account location of exterior mounted air-conditioners, escape hatches, windows, venting, interior sinks, fresh and salt water intakes and the inboard/outboard placement of other vans and ship bulkheads. Doors to the exterior should ideally be mounted on the ends to fit to the ships designed ISO-fitting van docking areas. Having a van with only one side door limits access and arrangement options if more than one van is brought aboard. A final certified weight from the shipping company is required before the van is loaded aboard. The approximate loading limit is 0.5 ton/sq ft. Ship stability is ultimately the responsibility of the Commanding Officer (CO). The responsibility of the scientists is to consult with the ship early (weeks to months in advance) to describe loading plans and requirements so that any necessary adjustments can be made. The more complex and heavy your equipment, the more advanced notice is needed. Our goal is to resolve loading problems and incompatibilities before the equipment is shipped and certainly before sailing day, so that it will not be necessary to leave scientific gear on the dock in order to assure a safe ship.
Each van will need a transformer that converts 480 3 phase to the power type and voltage required by instruments. An outdoor, water proof, low smoke, SO, #6, 4 conductor cable will connect your van to the ships outlet. Grounding of the van must ground to the ground in your panel. The panel must be wired through the receptacle box so that it will ground through the common ship's ground. There are numerous van placement locations, on the main deck aft (with access to Hydro Lab), the 01 level port side and forward on the 02 deck (3 x 70 amp circuits and 1 x 30 amp circuit available).
Phase use: Leaving the third phase unused does not cause any problems for us. In fact, nearly all vans that come aboard only use 2 phases.
Van Plug: Having a plug already attached would make the setup quick and easy once the van is loaded; however, it is not a requirement. Please ensure you have standard 10 gauge (or 6 gauge) SO wire to connect from the power receptacle to your transformer (roughly 20-25 ft., depending on how far forward the vans sit and which side of the van the transformer will be on)
Specifications for the plug type:
Main Deck Power Specifications
Ship Service Buss SourceThe ship has 115, 220, 480 and 600 in these configurations:
If power spikes will adversely affect the equipment in a van than it is recommended that van power supplies have an isolation transformer and a UPS for sensitive electronic equipment. Please do not use Auto-transformers as power converters except when you have an isolation transformer separating it from the ships system is used. This ship does not have a problem with power spikes. There are numerous pieces of electronic equipment that are powered directly off the ships lighting. These pieces of equipment have been in place for years. There have been no complaints from scientific personnel who bring gear onboard about power spikes.
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URL: http://www.moc.noaa.gov/rb/science/labs.htm
Updated: February 10, 2004