Date

This informal letter from the AICC committee is not specifically endorsed by
the National Science Foundation but is meant as advice for planning marine
polar research support on US ice-capable ships.
If you have questions please contact James Swift, jswift [at] ucsd.edu
or look at sample proposals at:

http://gso.uri.edu/unols/committees/healyuse.pdf

Dear Colleagues,

Technical and Operational Support Enhancements for US Coast Guard Arctic
Marine Science Missions

The UNOLS Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee (AICC) provides
scientific oversight of Arctic marine science support on US ice-capable
vessels available to academic science, with primary focus on USCGC Polar
Star, USCGC Polar Sea, and the new USCGC Healy. The AICC provides Arctic
marine scientists with planning and scheduling assistance, facilitates
communications between scientists, science funders and facility providers,
and provides oversight and advice to the Coast Guard for the purpose of
enhancing facilities and science aboard their icebreaker fleet. Incumbent
in this is fulfilling an ombudsman role for the high latitude science
community, insuring efficient and effective utilization of US ice breakers
and championing the utilization of high latitude assets. It is also the
responsibility of the AICC to promote new technology for high latitude
assets and to maintain cutting edge capability for these facilities.

One of the AICC's goals is to see that the science user experience on
funded Arctic marine science missions on US Coast Guard icebreakers is
compatible with that experienced by users of the large UNOLS vessels. The
Coast Guard has been a willing and enthusiastic partner in this endeavor.
To that end, the AICC deems that a degree of companion support from one or
more UNOLS operator institutions for pre-cruise interactions and contacts,
training, maintenance of science systems, and at-sea technical operations
may be necessary, at least on a trial or interim basis, to help ensure that
science users with missions beginning in 2001 receive the customary level
of technical and pre-cruise support.

It is thus the opinion of the AICC that the user community should consider
submitting to NSF/OPP proposals to provide technical and operational
support enhancements aimed at whatever science programs the community
judges to be likely or typical for 2001 and 2002 (see
http://gso.uri.edu/unols/committees/healyuse.pdf for examples of
non-binding user plans). Such proposals could call for funding, if
awarded, via cooperative agreement in order to permit task modification as
cruise needs become clearer each year. As examples of the types of
operational and technical support which might be useful in 2001 and 2002
the AICC cites direct and frequent interactions with scientists to help
assure that their operational and technical support requirements will be
met, and assistance with training, operation, and maintenance of specific
science systems for science program use, e.g. CTD, coring systems, science
data network, SeaBeam, ADCP, or other underway systems.

The AICC opinion is that appropriate proposals should be modest in scope,
be based solidly within existing academic oceanographic shipboard
scientific support structures, be specific in defining working
relationships with Coast Guard personnel, not supplant existing Coast Guard
personnel or functions, be flexible and aimed at specific science program
requirements, and be restricted USCG icebreaker Arctic marine technical and
operational support.

It is important that all recognize that this informal letter to the
community consists only of opinions and advice from the AICC, without NSF
review or sanction, and specifically is not a "call for proposals" or other
agency funding opportunity. The AICC reminds prospective submittors that
NSF may consider proposals at any time, and that, in general, the timing
and scheme used for the annual NSF/OCE "Technicians" grants may be
appropriate to any proposals along the lines suggested here by the AICC.

Sincerely,
Jim Swift
Chair, UNOLS AICC