Marine Science Institute’s R/V LONGHORN to Support Post-Katrina Research

The Research Vessel LONGHORN, the flagship of The University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute (MSI) here in Port Aransas, has been requested to support time-sensitive, critical research off the coast of Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina. The effects of the passage of a major hurricane can have just as dramatic effects on the bottom of the oceans as it has on land, and the land and sea information must be combined to fully understand the total environmental impact of such a storm. LONGHORN is the only vessel capable of such a mission that is able to respond to this request.

A scientific party under the auspices of the National Science Foundation is being assembled by Dr. Mead Allison of Tulane University, including a seismic research team from Texas A&M University-Galveston under Dr. Tim Delapenna. The Office of Naval Research is collaborating and is sponsoring the ship operations.

The ship will sail from Port Aransas late on September 23^rd with the Galveston team aboard and will mobilize the rest of the team in Cocodrie, LA. This is to allow Dr. Allison’s researchers to gain access to their laboratories on the damaged Tulane University campus in New Orleans, dig out (and repair as needed) the scientific equipment needed for their part of the cruise and embark at a relatively undamaged facility nearby.

The cruise will focus on the effects of storm surges, strong currents and high winds on the bottom contours, channels, sediments, scouring and deposits on the bottom of the near-shore continental shelf. This cruise will also explore some of these effects in the bay and estuary regions of the Louisiana coast, with Barataria Bay being the focus of this effort.

The LONGHORN will deploy with large and small box corers, devices that are lowered into the ocean and which take samples of the bottom sediment, provided by MSI to assist in the sampling. The ship will load two radio-equipped boats from the MSI Marine Operations fleet to deploy for the Barataria Bay portion of the mission. A seismic cable winch with a CHIRP acoustic towed array will be temporarily mounted on deck for the Texas A&M team to collect sediment layering data. Scientific party computers will be connected to the ship’s navigational tracking data system and precision depth recording equipment to capture real time positioning and bottom contour data throughout the cruise. In addition, the ship’s main data system will capture course, speed, position and weather data constantly which will be provided to the scientific party on debarkation, giving them a continuous readout of conditions experienced.

The LONGHORN was scheduled to participate in this year’s Corpus Christi Bayfest  October 1-2. As a member of the National Science Foundation’s fleet of research vessels, delivering a scientific team to a remote location is the ship’s primary mission and takes precedence, forcing cancellation of the Bayfest appearance. The ability to respond on short notice is the hallmark of the only university-operated oceanographic research vessel in the state of Texas. The ship is expected to return to Port Aransas about October 6^th.

Contact: Dr. Steven M. Lanoux
361-749-6760
Date: September 14, 2005