DEEP SUBMERGENCE SCIENCE COMMITTEE

28-29 May 1996
Carriage House, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole, MA

MEETING MINUTES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Appendices

1. Meeting Agenda
2. Attendance List
3. R/V ATLANTIS Update and Brochure
4. ALVIN Battery Evolution
5. ROV Information
6. Summary of 1997 ALVIN/ROV Requests
7. U.S. Deep Submergence Community Request for ALVIN Upgrades
8. Current Data/Video Systems and Options
9. NSF Report
10. West Coast NURC

DATE: 		July 22, 1996
TO:		U.S. Deep Submergence Community
FROM:		Mike Perfit, DESSC Chair
SUBJECT:	Executive Summary of May DESSC Meeting and Status of Deep Submergence Science

The current status and future potential of U.S. deep submergence science continues to be positive. Several factors have contributed to this favorable outlook. They include: 1) the completion of the new deep submergence support ship R/V ATLANTIS (expected in early 1997), 2) major overhaul of ALVIN which will be completed in spring 1997, and 3) excellent capabilities and greater demand for the ROV Jason, ARGO-II and the 120 kHz sonar which have a full operating schedule into 1997 and funded work into 1998. The integration of the UNOLS deep submergence facilities and expanded capabilities afforded by submersible, fiber optic-based ROV and tethered vehicles have placed U.S. deep submergence research on the threshold of a new era of scientific discovery.

Many of the details of the ATLANTIS delivery and ALVIN overhaul were recently discussed at the DESSC meeting held at Woods Hole on May 28-29. The minutes of the meeting are available on the UNOLS WWW site (http://www.gso.uri.edu/unols/unols.html). In order to facilitate access to DESSC and deep submergence information, in the future, the community will be notified electronically when the minutes or other important new items are posted on the UNOLS Web Site. Hard copy will be available only upon request to the UNOLS Office.

In this memo, I have highlighted some of the results of our most recent and very productive meeting. I would also like to keep you apprised of the current timetable for R/V ATLANTIS delivery and testing, and the tentative 1997 schedule for ALVIN, Jason and the tethered vehicles.

R/V ATLANTIS is well on it's way toward completion and is expected to be delivered to WHOI at the end of the first quarter of 1997. The conversion to support the launching and recovery of the National Deep Submergence Facility vehicles will already have been implemented on delivery. I had the opportunity to see the ATLANTIS (and the REVELLE) in the shipyard in March and was very impressed with the shipboard facilities. The ATLANTIS II was retired from service in early July and sold. The proceeds from the sale will be used by the Federal agencies and WHOI to help defray the costs of the ATLANTIS conversion. The ATLANTIS II will sail to a shipyard in the Gulf of Mexico in late July for cross-decking the stern frame and other equipment. ALVIN was off-loaded at WHOI in preparation for a major overhaul that will commence in the fall of 1996 and continue into the spring of 1997. WHOI expects that ALVIN will be loaded on the ATLANTIS after a short certification period, and will be ready for science trials in June, 1997. The time for the integration of the ROV systems into the new ATLANTIS is still uncertain because of the busy ROV schedule projected for spring and summer of 1997, however, WHOI, DESSC and the Federal funding agencies recognize the importance of fully integrating the systems, and an effort is being made to work out the logistics so that ALVIN and the tethered systems can be operated from R/V ATLANTIS in the summer/fall of 1997.

The ALVIN schedule for 1996 was very light with only 49 dives and 93 operating days. This resulted from a variety of factors including: budgetary constraints, declines of field proposals, the requirement to take the AII out of service in order to avoid further costs in maintaining the vessel to ABS standards, and to coordinate the cross-decking of various pieces of ALVIN related handling equipment (e.g. A-frame) from the AII to R/V ATLANTIS.

ROV Jason and tethered vehicles have three funded field programs that will be carried out in calendar 1996. Another five programs are very likely to be funded for 1997-1998 and a few additional programs remain under consideration. DESSC had hoped that the ROVs could be integrated with ALVIN as early as this summer during engineering tests, but due to heavy science usage this may not occur until later in 1997. We will continue to support the integration of the deep submergence systems at the earliest possible time. In the meantime, the ROV and tethered vehicles will remain in a "fly-away" mode for use on appropriate UNOLS vessels. Recent reports from the KNORR, which is working at the Lucky Strike hydrothermal site on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 37°N, indicate that ROV Jason, ARGO-II and the 120 kHz sonar systems have been functioning very well and that the initial data are of excellent quality and resolution. In addition, Jason has been very successful sampling hot (>300°C) hydrothermal fluids, various biological specimens and basalt and sulfide samples. A mid-cruise report on their progress will be posted on the WHOI DSOG web site (http://dsogserv.whoi.edu/). Look under "New" to find this report.

DESSC has worked with the operator and the community to define a priority list for ALVIN upgrades (see DESSC meeting Appendix VII). Top priorities include upgrades of the power system and of the data logging and video systems for the vehicle. WHOI provided the committee with a study of power usage, battery types, and future power options for ALVIN (see DESSC meeting Appendix IV). WHOI DSOG is currently testing different batteries which seem highly promising and it appears likely that new batteries and battery monitors will be installed during the next overhaul. The final work to be completed as part of the ALVIN Imaging Upgrade Proposal funded two years ago will be to install a pan-and-tilt unit, and new 1- and 3-chip color cameras during the ALVIN overhaul. These new cameras will provide compatibility and expanded sparing of imaging systems for both ALVIN and Jason. The new navigation software (Pelagos WinFrog) for LBL and SBL navigation has been purchased and is being implemented by WHOI DSOG.

DESSC is working with the operator to structure an upgrade proposal that provides for commencing and implementing as many of the high-priority upgrades as possible during the 1996-1997 overhaul period, and completing them in 1997-1998 as permitted by funding and engineering time. Additional upgrade items relating to vehicle systems (e.g. variable ballast system for ALVIN) and science sensors are being prioritized for the funding agencies so that they can consider them and plan for them appropriately. In addition, DESSC will work on upgrades for Jason and in long-range planning for technology upgrades that will continue to improve the capabilities of the National Deep Submergence Facility.

Long-range planning for deep submergence research is essential if we are to take the vehicles to distant parts of the ocean. A group of ALVIN and tethered vehicle proposals for research along the southern EPR near 17oS now have been funded and it appears fairly certain that R/V ATLANTIS will be in the southeast Pacific during the late fall-winter of 1997-98. The ATLANTIS must return to San Diego for post shakedown availability and final contract trials between in the spring of 1998. After that time period, work in the traditional operating areas of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, California Borderlands and the northern EPR is most likely. Operational plans beyond late 1998 are uncertain and will be dictated by proposal pressure. However, both WHOI DSOG and the Federal funding agencies are supportive of expeditions to the Hawaiian Islands and the western Pacific in the near future.

DESSC will work with WHOI DSOG, the Federal funding agencies, and the community to try to coordinate work in other remote areas so that they can be planned for effectively. This includes alerting the community to logistical opportunities for future work, and trying to organize planning meetings/workshops to foster coordinated proposal efforts outside the traditional operating areas of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, northern EPR and Mid-Atlantic Ridge, that could take place over the next five-ten years. Patty Fryer (new DESSC member) will be participating in a workshop in Japan in late July that will be exploring the possibility of joint U.S.-Japan deep submergence research in the Izu-Bonin-Marianas arcs. She has agreed to act as the contact person for coordinating and promoting research plans for the western Pacific.

Proposal pressure to use the National Deep Submergence Facility vehicles remains a top priority in order to keep the schedule for work as robust as possible, within the constraints of available funding. I ask all of you interested in deep submergence research to be aggressive in terms of planning your future field work and making the most of the new integrated deep submergence facilities available to the community. DESSC and WHOI DSOG are committed to assisting proponents as much as possible in regards to providing technical and logistical information that can be used for planning purposes. Alternate sources of funding for deep submergence work (i.e. outside the primary U.S. Federal funding agencies) are also being sought. WHOI has worked closely with the Federal funding agencies and DESSC to bring to fruition some external funding for applied deep submergence work in 1997 for Jason and the tethered vehicles. I encourage all of you who have been waiting for the expanded capabilities of the new support ship and vehicle facilities to come on-line, to start submitting research proposals for field programs in the coming years and into the next century at the earliest possible time.

Meeting Minutes

The following minutes represent a summary of the activities and discussions that took place at the DESSC Committee meeting that was held at WHOI on the 28-29 of May, 1996. The meeting followed the agenda, Appendix I, except as noted in these minutes. The attendance list for the meeting has been included as Appendix II.

Tuesday, May 28

1. Welcome, Introductory Remarks, New Members, Agenda Items: Mike Perfit, DEep Submergence Science Committee Chair, called the meeting to order at 0830 hrs and welcomed the Committee and the new members, Patty Fryer, University of Hawaii and Marvin Lilley, University of Washington. Marv will need confirmation by the Council when it meets in July. Mike announced that J.C. Sempere regretfully resigned from the Committee having taken a position in industry. Marvin Lilley will be his replacement on the Committee. Mike also welcomed Barbara Moore of NOAA/NURP to the meeting.
   
   The terms of Dan Orange, Jim Bellingham and Bob Collier will be up this year. All three are eligible for a second three year term. Dan and Jim agreed to serve and were confirmed by the Committee. Mike will contact Bob and encourage him to stand for re-appointment. (Bob has since agreed to serve another term.)
   
   The UNOLS report was given by the UNOLS Chair, Ken Johnson. Ken reported that the publication, "Projections for UNOLS' Future - Substantial Financial Challenges", (referred to as the Betzer report) has been distributed to the community. It presents a projection of a significant shortfall in funding for the UNOLS Fleet by the year 2000 unless major changes are forthcoming. Finding new partnerships is one of the recommend efforts. This seems to be happening with NOAA and NAVOCEANO with both of these agencies looking toward UNOLS for ship time. Ken also noted the CORE efforts for a National Ocean Partnership Act which includes $7.5M in the 1997 budget for the Navy to use additional ship time for survey work. Ken reported that a UNOLS subcommittee consisting of himself, Bob Knox, Bob Wall and Jack Bash are meeting with NOAA to establish the process by which NOAA can make better use of the UNOLS Fleet. There will also be a subset of this group who will work with NOAA on fisheries issues and their need for ship time. The White Paper, "UNOLS: Celebrating 25 Years as the Nation's Premier Oceanographic Research Fleet", explains the advantages of using UNOLS vessels.
   
   Ken told the Committee that UNOLS will be establishing another committee to work with the U.S. Coast Guard and their icebreaker fleet. The committee will be named the Arctic Icebreaker Coordinating Committee (AICC) and will be chaired by Jim Swift. Ken reported that the Fleet Improvement Committee (FIC) was developing an Interim Fleet Improvement Plan (IFIP) that would address the dynamic activities currently being experienced with respect to funding shortfalls and ship time availability. Also in this consideration is the 1997 DOD budget item that will authorize $45.5M for U of Hawaii to build a SWATH vessel.
   
2. Accept Minutes: The minutes of the December, 1995 and May, 1995 meetings were accepted as written. The community can access the minutes on the UNOLS WWW site (http://www.gso.uri.edu/unols/unols.html). From this meeting on, only the DESSC will receive a hard copy but the rest of the community will be notified that the minutes are on the WWW and a hard copy is available from the UNOLS Office. UNOLS has integrated their master address list with that of the RIDGE Office.
   
3. National Facility Operators Report: Rick Chandler opened with a brief summary of the 1996 schedule of the ATLANTIS II and ALVIN. This will be a short year with 49 dives and 93 operating days. AII will return to WHOI on 2 July after its final cruise. ALVIN will be off-loaded for overhaul and the ship will sail to a shipyard in the Gulf of Mexico for cross-decking the stern frame and other equipment.
   
   Andy Bowen reported that the ROV/tethered vehicles have four funded cruises but the schedule is not fixed at this point. Discussion followed regarding the end of the year ROV operations. The tentative schedule for the summer to fall of 1996 looks good with Fornari, Johnson and Haymon cruises. There was discussion regarding where the Hey cruise could fit into the 1996 schedule. With a busy end of 1996 and a busier 1997 schedule coupled with the ALVIN overhaul, the DSOG operating personnel will be stretched tight.
   
   Dick Pittenger passed out a brochure that documented the facilities and dimensions of the ATLANTIS (Appendix III) and reported that the conversion to a submersible/ROV handling ship is well underway. AII's A-frame will be installed on the ATLANTIS with some revisions. The hanger will be extended and winches/booms installed. The ATLANTIS will look like it was designed from the keel up as a support ship. The ATLANTIS is scheduled to be delivered by the shipyard 15 April '97 arriving at WHOI 6 May '97. After a short certification period during transit, ALVIN will be loaded aboard having completed its overhaul. The time for the integration of the ROV system into the new ATLANTIS is still unknown because of the busy ROV schedule projected for spring and summer of 1997. More discussion on the ROV cruise scheduling for that time period is necessary. The Committee stressed the need for testing the combined ALVIN/tethered vehicles operations before funded science programs begin. Funding constraints and a busy ROV schedule will make this difficult. The timetable for bringing the ship and deep submergence vehicles into service is included in Appendix III. At the present time, the ATLANTIS is scheduled to be ready for science in June of 1997. Post shakedown availability and final contract trials for the ATLANTIS are scheduled for the window of 30 January '98 to 30 March '98.
   
   Barrie Walden recently had provided the Committee with a study titled, "ALVIN Battery Evolution", which documents a study of power usage, battery types and future power possibilities for ALVIN (see Appendix IV). Several members of the Committee praised Dudley Foster (author of the study) for the thorough and excellent work. A discussion of the study followed. The WHOI operators are currently testing Trojan batteries which seem highly promising and it appears likely that new batteries, (Trojan, Exide or Chloride Canada) will likely be installed during the next overhaul. New battery monitors will also be installed at this time. The Committee offered several suggestions concerning power use aboard ALVIN. These included the need to rewrite the information for ALVIN's different power requirements. Scientists need to know their options. There is a need for pilot and scientist training with regard to power usage and conservation. The possibility of adding a third battery was discussed, however, this increases weight requiring the need to add flotation. The Committee suggested that a discussion of the ongoing evaluation of battery technologies could be included at the next DESSC meeting. The timing for new battery configurations was discussed. No conclusions were reached, however, it appeared that the 1999-2000 overhaul period seemed most likely because of the necessity to do the required engineering and planning for any major battery/power change to ALVIN.
   
   Barrie continued with a discussion of several upgrade projects funded as part of the imaging proposal. The only two items remaining to be completed from that work are the pan-and-tilt which has not progressed as quickly as originally intended because of a lack of shore-based engineering time and ongoing evaluation of commercially available pan and tilt mechanisms. One unit was tested during engineering dives in September, 1995. Discussions are ongoing with that vendor and MBARI regarding that product and WHOI is evaluating other options for building the pan-and-tilt in-house. Because of the current availability of the Osprey 3-chip camera on ALVIN since 1993, the purchase of a new 3-chip has been postponed until the 1996 overhaul to continue to take advantage of improvements in video technology and decreasing costs for these cameras. Both the pan-and-tilt and the new 3-chip color camera will be installed during the ALVIN overhaul. In addition, the new 3-chip camera will also be able to be used with Jason. WHOI was asked to provide the DESSC and NSF with documentation regarding their final implementation of a pan-and-tilt and purchase of a new 3-chip camera.
   
   Andy Bowen provided the Committee with information about the ROV integration on the ATLANTIS. It is estimated that the time necessary to mobilize should be significantly less than that required for ALVIN. Power cables will be permanently installed which will facilitate installation. Port-side deployment of the vehicle is planned. The WHOI traction winch, which will have a fiber optic cable on it, will be mounted below deck. At present there are no plans for deploying the ROV concurrently with ALVIN although it was noted that Jason had operated concurrently with DSV TURTLE in the Gulf of California in 1993.
   
   Andy provided a slide showing the DSOG Unmanned Vehicle Status. This is included as Appendix V and provides information on Jason/Medea, ARGO II and DSL 120. Andy continued with details on the Jason manipulator tests and the navigation upgrades carried out in 1995 and 1996. This information also is included in Appendix V. The WinFrog navigation software system, purchased as part of the ONR-funded contribution to the DSOG navigation upgrade, is being installed and will work in parallel with the present DSOG navigation system until it has been thoroughly tested and incorporated. This navigation system will also be available for ALVIN when it is operating off the ATLANTIS. Recent upgrades and changes to the ROV systems will be incorporated into DSOG's "blue book" (and WWW site) on technical specifications early next year. The Committee noted that it will be very important to keep scientists aware of the changes in the systems and to make sure that new users are brought up to speed before using the equipment.
   
   Dan Fornari provided a demonstration and discussion of a remote temperature logger that will be used with the high-temperature, major fluid samplers. The device is based on an inductive couple link that will permit a small sending unit and sensor at the nozzle tip of each bottle to transmit the temperature of the fluid being sampled in real time to inside the sphere in order to maximize the quality of the samples. The logger was funded through a WHOI technical grant. The instrument was tested on the EPR during a dive series in April. With the exception of an alignment problem, which was resolved, the design works well. The unit is being modified so that it can also be used for Jason water sampling operations and it will be tested on the ROV cruise to Lucky Strike on the MAR in July, 1996 (as we go to press, reports from KNORR indicate that the water sampling and temperature measurements have been very successful).
   
   A Benthos DSC Camera was tested on ALVIN with only marginal results A complete summary and interim report on digital imaging systems for the National Facility deep submergence vehicles has been completed and posted on the WHOI-DSOG web site (http://dsogserv.whoi.edu/HDTV/hdtv.htm) and distributed to DESSC and UNOLS.
   
   The Committee broke for lunch.
   
   Mike Perfit provided the Committee with recent ALVIN user comments. Most were quite laudatory praising the shipboard operations group and crew for professionalism and dedication. The few corrective comments were related to coordination of information and an apparent lack of communications. As in the past, concerns over morale of the shipboard technical group were sighted and the operator was asked to continue to make improvements in this regard.
   
4. Review and Summary of Submitted Proposals: Jack Bash and Don Moller presented a summary of ALVIN/ROV requests for 1997. The summary included letters of intent. This summary is included as Appendix VI. Dolly Dieter informed the Committee that science funding decisions were not yet complete for 1997. Even though funding decisions are not complete, the ROV schedule has the potential to be quite full in 1997. Possible scheduling conflicts in 1997 may mean that it will not be possible to integrate the ROV and tethered vehicles into the new ATLANTIS and ALVIN shipboard routine until later in 1997. There is a British governmental proposal to use the ROV system in the Western Pacific in early 1997 that is still under consideration. In addition, R. Ballard has also proposed a cruise in the Mediterranean for late spring/summer 1997. If these cruises materialize, they would provide funding from outside the normal sources and would help both the DSOG and the Class I ship operations. The schedule for funded cruises will depend on vehicle logistics, UNOLS vessel availability, and whether the British work is funded.
   
5. Presentation and Discussion of ALVIN Upgrade List: Dan Orange and Cindy Van Dover assembled a list of ALVIN upgrades which were developed from community input. The summary is included as Appendix VII. A suggestion was made that ROV upgrades also be considered in the future as additions to the list. Upgrades have been ranked by priority based on compilation of the evaluations made by all the DESSC members. Significant discussion followed causing a reordering of some priorities and additions to the list. An updated list will result from these discussions and further study.
   
   Barrie Walden replied to a number of points raised during the discussion of upgrades and informed the committee that his ALVIN group does not have a great enough number of engineers to integrate the navigation, data logger and video systems. The integration of the ALVIN organization with the ROV group provides an excellent pool of engineers. In the long run, this should help with improvements but additional funding is needed. For now, they must focus on the top priority overhaul tasks.
   
   Discussion regarding the strategy to approach upgrades during overhaul continued during the second day of the meeting (also see Section VII). The Committee stressed that this overhaul period would be an opportune time to attempt some of the upgrades. In particular, upgrades to the batteries/power systems, digital imaging, vertical ballast system and the integrated video/navigation/data logger systems were noted as being first priorities (see Appendix VIII). A lack of personnel because of the busy ROV schedule will limit the extent to which any upgrades can be accomplished during the upcoming overhaul. It was suggested that engineering studies should be part of the operations proposal for 1997 and beyond and that these studies should be initiated as soon as possible. D. Fornari, J. Bellingham and H. Milburn agreed to serve as the DESSC Technology Subcommittee to aid in writing the proposal and act as an advisory body to work with WHOI personnel. It was agreed that the subcommittee and WHOI operators would decide on a path to follow for the proposal before October when the proposal is due.
   
   8:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 29
   
6. Agency Reports:
   
   NSF - Don Heinrichs first reported on staff changes at NSF (Appendix IX). Sandy Shor will move from the Ocean Drilling Program to be Instrumentation and Technical Services Program Director replacing Lisa Rom who will be on one year maternity leave from Aug '96-Aug '97. Sandy will also be Program Director of Interamerican Institute (IAI). Don followed with a summary of those NSF persons who will be the UNOLS Liaisons: Council, D. Heinrichs; RVOC, SSC and DESSC, D. Dieter; RVTEC, L. Rom/S. Shor; FIC, D. West.
   
   Don reviewed the 1996 budget which has been approved by Congress. The Ocean Sciences budget is $194M which includes a $0.9 M or 0.5% increase. Ocean Science Research will receive a $2.3M increase, Oceanographic Centers & Facilities a $1.5M decrease and the Ocean Drilling Program received a $0.1M increase. NSF is planning to increase emphasis on research although funding is expected to be flat for the immediate future. Funding for unsolicited proposals will increase from $120.6 to $121.9M but imbedded in this figure is support for the Deep Submergence Facilities.
   
   ONR - Sujata Millick gave the ONR report. She informed the Committee that the REVELLE is a fantastic ship. The ATLANTIS changes are going well. There will be no deep submergence science days funded by ONR in 1997. ONR funding for deep submergence science is not predicted to change much over the next few years. However, ONR will stay committed to supporting the facilities for ALVIN and Jason. The ONR budget for 1996 is level funded with $400M of which $100M will go to Ocean Sciences. The facilities budget is $5M.
   
   NOAA/NURP - Barbara Moore (replacing Hank Frey) reported that NURP is in flux undergoing a reinvention of the way of doing business. The NURP centers have had abbreviated research programs this year because of funding problems. The six centers have not been included in the Administration's budget for 1997. The program is being revised with proposals from the National Level Advisory Council and the National Level Review Panel. The status of the budget will not be known until the fall. Barbara is confident that NURP will survive. She reassured the Committee of the importance of ALVIN to NOAA/NURP and their commitment for funding. The NURP budget summary is: FY 1994 - $18.1M; FY 1995 - $14.5M; FY 1996 - $12M; FY 1997 $0 (expecting a $12M markup from Congress).
   
   Memo of Understanding (MOA) - The three agency MOA for the support of deep submergence science and facilities which had expired in 1995 has been extended for the present because of the current uncertainties in government funding.
   
   Lead Federal Agency - This item was tabled.
   
   Funding Paradigm - No action was taken on this item but there was discussion regarding funding deep submergence science in the future.
   
7. Integrated Deep Submergence Facility: The Committee discussed the present status of the organization of the integrated Deep Submergence Facility. The Committee was not sure of the present form of the ALVIN and ROV groups, how they will be merged, and how many people are involved in the various shore-based and at-sea operations. DESSC requested that WHOI produce a white paper on the organization that would include a personnel wiring diagram, management structure outline, and task/responsibility summary for the various positions at the National Facility for Deep Submergence. The document should also include various scenarios as to how the organization of the facility will be implemented for the different shipboard and shore-side infrastructure and the mobilization plans that may be required when operating off the new ATLANTIS, and also when the ROV and tethered vehicles may be required to operate on another suitable UNOLS vessel. There was particular concern about the costs involved in maintaining the ROVs in a "fly-away" mode once they were integrated into the new ATLANTIS. Safety and reliability should be the highest priority. A funding strategy that takes into account the facility operational and ongoing engineering requirements should also be included in the plan so that operations in 1997 and beyond can be properly considered by the Federal funding agencies and DESSC. The Committee asked that a draft of the document be prepared for circulation to DESSC and the Federal agency representatives by September, so that a more final document would be available for the 14 December meeting of the DESSC with the deep submergence community.
   
   The Committee broke for lunch.
   
8. Long Range Planning for Deep Submergence Research: The Committee discussed the long range plans for deep submergence research. Once the new ATLANTIS is ready for routine, global science operations, there should be a dedicated effort to carry out funded programs on the southern EPR. The ship and deep submergence vehicles are likely to head to the western Pacific if sufficient proposal pressure is demonstrated. The Indian Ocean should also be considered as an option. Coordinated operations with the Japanese could materialize for the Atlantic in 1998 and in the western Pacific in 1999.
   
   The polar regions could be an area for NOAA/NURP ROV operations.
   
   The Committee concluded that Mike should write a letter to the community with the possibilities of expeditions outside of the traditional areas to solicit possible interest. It was discussed that UNOLS could post a map on the Web with proposed cruises to stimulate interest in potential future operational areas.
   
   Bob Stern, U of Texas, is coordinating a workshop in Japan funded by NSF and the Japanese (including JAMSTEC). Mike Perfit and Patty Fryer have been invited. Mike will provide an overview of the UNOLS deep submergence capabilities, the current status of the ATLANTIS, and the planned ALVIN overhaul. There will be a tour of JAMSTEC facilities. They will discuss the possibility of ALVIN working jointly with SHINKAI 6500.
   
   The British are discussing the use of ALVIN for a BRIDGE project on the Mid-Atlantic ridge. Four biology proposals have been funded by BRIDGE which require five to six submersible dives. BRIDGE is considering the use of either ALVIN or NAUTILE to do the work in the summer of 1997. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) has also expressed an interest in buying two ALVIN dives to be piggy-backed onto another program that is planning to visit a Mid-Atlantic Ridge high-temperature vent site, to do filming of a BBC television special entitled, "Earth Story".
   
   The Canadian ROPOS will be used by several U.S. investigators including Mike Perfit, Marv Lilley and Dan Orange this summer during cruises on the German research vessel SONNE in the Northeast Pacific area. The majority of the costs for a new 5000+ meter cable were covered by the charter rate the Germans paid to use ROPOS. NSF, through a grant to R. Lutz, contributed about 25% of the charter costs for one leg of the cruise.
   
   It was decided to reestablish the DESSC Coordinating Subgroups to help with global expedition efforts. Assignments to lead these groups were: Western Pacific, Patty Fryer; Southern EPR, Marv Lilley; Indian Ocean, Cindy Van Dover; Mediterranean, Dan Fornari; Polar regions, Dan Orange.
   
   In the discussion beyond 2000 the Committee felt there was a need for more PR to the community and nation. We could use the WWW for more exposure and to attract children. Educational funds to support students and teachers could be available. Patty Fryer will check the NSF Education and Human Resources for possible funds and public relations. A DESSC initiated proposal may be appropriate.
   
   Jim Bellingham reported to the Committee on the developments in AUVs. The thrust is to make these vehicles small and inexpensive. Their operating profile is designed for 30 to 100 hours and a unit cost range of $75-$85K. Many small vehicles are cheaper than one large ROV. They can be used in high latitude applications for rapid response and under the ice and are complementary to ALVIN and ROVs.
   
9. Third Party Tools: The Third Party Tool Policy will need some revision. As presently written it conflicts with agency policies. A draft revision is being prepared by Dan Fornari to correct these inconsistencies. Dolly Dieter will be the NSF contact for the policy revision and Mike Perfit will follow up on the changes. Jeff Karson has an instrument that could qualify as a third party tool. The Committee will review the design specifications and report to Mike Perfit.
   
   UNOLS homepage/WHOI homepage - Jack Bash reported that the shiptime request form is being tested for on-line application from the UNOLS homepage. The application should be ready to go this summer. The UNOLS Office also would like to put the ALVIN time-request on-line.
   
10. Other U.S. Deep Submergence Activities:
    MBARI - Dan Orange reported that Peter Brewer was stepping down as Director and Ross Heath is taking over as Interim Director for one year. Dave Clague will be heading the science department as a replacement for Bruce Robison. The WESTERN FLYER is undergoing sea trials and all seems to be going well. The future use of this ship for cooperative use is still under discussion.
    
    NOAA/NURP - Gene Smith reported that NURP lost one third of its budget in 1996 from $18K to $12K. The program in the past did not tie into NOAA's plan, however, they plan to correct this. The Headquarters will be working with the NURP Centers to develop the plans. HURL is expecting summer operations with KOK/PISCES V and hopes to get outside funding.
    
    U.S. Navy - Cindy Van Dover provided information about the Navy submersibles. Her presentation is included as Appendix X which includes the 1996 Navy field programs. Cindy reported that there is pressure increasing for deep water exploration in the Gulf of Alaska. The Navy vehicles will be brought to the Gulf in 1996 followed by a planned three year initiative.
    
11. Other: A meeting between WHOI operators, Federal agency representatives (including program managers) and some DESSC members may be held in September prior to the UNOLS Annual meeting.
    
    The meeting adjourned 4:45 p.m.