July 1, 2010
Dear All
The Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC) – the oversight committee for the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF) – has recently recommended that Sentry be brought forward to become the NDSF’s autonomous underwater vehicle. This means that Sentry is now the AUV that can be requested from, and supported by, the National Deep Submergence Facility in any future submissions of grant proposals to NSF, NOAA or ONR, such as the forthcoming NSF-OCE grant deadline of August 15th 2010.
When submitting any proposals that want to take advantage of this capability, PIs should continue to check the box for “ABE/Sentry” under the category “Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)” on the relevant UNOLS Shiptime Request form (see https://strs.unols.org/public/diu_login.aspx) that should be completed in parallel with all grant submissions requiring use of Sentry, whether or not a UNOLS ship is also required, so that both ship and vehicle schedulers are aware of your interests.
Basic information on the Sentry vehicle’s capabilities are included in the attached pdf file which also states key contact points at WHOI to help with project planning:-
Chris German (Chief Scientist for Deep Submergence): cgerman@whoi.edu
Rod Catanach (NDSF AUV Operations Manager): rcatanach@whoi.edu
Additional in-depth information for Sentry is also available on-line at:-
http://www.whoi.edu/marops/vehicles
Very best wishes, Chris German