SIOC 218/Del Mar

Two days of ship time are requested on R/V Sproul in late April to late May 2026 as part of the formal class sequence SIOC 223/218B “Proposal writing and experiment design” and “At-sea course for timeseries and mooring techniques,” similar to classes held successfully in earlier years. The sequence provides hands-on experience to SIO graduate students in writing proposals and designing experiments, planning a research cruise, designing a mooring observation system, operating instruments at sea, and calibrating and analyzing obtained time-series and other data. A scientific report with results analyzed by students, and/or an outreach article about this field-focused at-sea course is expected to be published. We request two separate (24-hour) days of ship time on R/V Sproul, one in April and one in May 2026 for the mooring operations. All cruises depart San Diego Nimitz Marine Facility (MARFAC) tentatively at 07:00. Transit to the Del Mar site takes three hours each way. Recent cruises have also included CTD calibration cast(s) at a deeper site west of Point Loma. This SME corresponds to the second portion of the project, in May 2026.