Room 1235
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA
18 September 1996
MEETING MINUTES
Appendices
The following minutes represent a summary of the activities and discussions that took place at the DESSC meeting that was held at the National Science Foundation on 18 September, 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.
I. Welcome, Introductory Remarks - Mike Perfit, Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC) Chair, called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Mike explained that the meeting was being held to bring DESSC members, the WHOI operator and program managers together to discuss timely and pertinent deep submergence issues. These issues included reviews of the WHOI Deep Submergence Operations Group (DSOG) management operation plan, scheduling of ALVIN/ROVs, ALVIN upgrade plans and SEACLIFF's future.
II. Current Status of ATLANTIS Delivery - Dick Pittenger reported that construction of ATLANTIS is ahead of schedule and may be delivered earlier than its scheduled delivery date of 15 April. Acceptance trials are scheduled for November 1996. WHOI has sold ATLANTIS II. The vessel was remembered in a farewell ceremony at Woods Hole in July. Following the ceremony, A-II transited to New Orleans for removal of the A-frame. The A-frame is being refurbished and will be installed on ATLANTIS.
III. Long-Range and Short-Range Schedules for ALVIN/ROVs:
1996 Field Programs - ROV operations are going very well this year. During Paul Johnson's cruise to the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Jason completed 87 hours of continuous operations on the bottom during one lowering. Jason's elevators were used with great success. Dan Fornari reported that his cruise (LUSTRE '96) this summer to Lucky Strike Seamount on the Mid Atlantic Ridge also went very well. All three vehicles were used; Jason, ARGO and AMS-120. They surveyed a 16 x 10 km section of ridge crest. Appendix III gives an operational summary of Dan's cruise along with survey samples.
1997-98 DSOG Tentative Schedule and Logistics - Dick Pittenger reviewed the ATLANTIS schedule and post delivery events, see Appendix IV. ATLANTIS is expected to arrive at WHOI in mid-April and ALVIN will be placed on board. After completion of an ATLANTIS/ALVIN demonstration and certification engineering dives, the vessel and sub will be ready for science. Operations are scheduled to begin in early June 1997.
Don Moller continued the report by reviewing the funded ALVIN dive requests for 1997, see Appendix V for all of Don's view graphs. There are a total of 136 ALVIN dives funded. The BRIDGE/ BBC UK work at Lucky Strike is still being considered, WHOI is preparing a quotation to BRIDGE. There are a total of 180 days-on-station funded for Jason/ARGO/AMS-120. In 1997, the ROVs are currently scheduled to operate in the Western Pacific and Mediterranean. They will visit the site of the wreck of the MV DERBYSHIRE, a vessel which sank in a typhoon in 1980. This is a UK/European funded cruise to perform a forensic survey of the vessel. The DERBYSHIRE cruise will enable ROV Jason (and R/V THOMPSON) to be in the western Pacific where Patty Fryer (U. Hawaii) has an approved NSF-funded cruise that otherwise could not have been efficiently scheduled.
Next, Don showed a timeline of the ROV schedule for 1996/1997 with ship assignments. From September 1996 through October 1997, seven cruises are planned. Time between cruises is needed for shipping the ROVs to their next assignment and on average, the required shipping time is six weeks. During shipping no maintenance can be performed on the vehicles, hence the 1996/97 schedule allows for very little maintenance of ROV systems which could have negative consequences for operations.
WHOI has prepared two schedule options for 1997 ATLANTIS operations. Option A was generally accepted by the UNOLS Ship Scheduling Committee. Under this scenario, ATLANTIS and ALVIN would begin operations in June in the Atlantic. At the end of July, the ship would transit through the Panama Canal and resume operations off San Diego. In the fall, one cruise is planned on the northern EPR to be followed by a series of cruises on the southern EPR. In October, the AMS-120 sonar system will be placed onboard ATLANTIS (integrating ALVIN with the towed vehicles for the first time on the same platform). However, in this scenario the ship must return to San Diego in March 1998 to begin its required Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) period. It was noted that if schedule option A is accepted, and if any additional proposals for SEPR get funded (including NOAA cruises), they would not be able to be scheduled for the early 1998 opportunity since the ship would be required to return to the U.S. to undergo its PSA.
Option B integrates the ROV and ALVIN operations earlier than option A. After completing operations off San Diego in August, ATLANTIS would transit to Juan de Fuca for three Jason cruises. In October, the ship would return to San Diego for one ALVIN cruise to be followed by a Jason cruise at the northern EPR. Option B moves the PSA to January 1998 before conducting operations at the Southern EPR. As a result, any additional proposals that get funded for the SEPR could get scheduled in 1998. Don presented the cruise tracks for options A and B. Both option A and B leave one funded cruise unscheduled at this time; Karson's cruise to Hess Deep.
There was considerable discussion of the two options. Option A, presents a more efficient schedule for the UNOLS fleet as a whole and is the option favored by NSF. Option B would be very disruptive to REVELLE's schedule. Option B, however, is favored by the operator and DESSC since it marries the sub and ROVs earlier and poses less scheduling constraints on the work in the SEPR.
Based on numerous discussions, and how the 1997 operations and science funding works out, it is clear that some hybrid schedule between options A and B should be developed to preserve the scheduling of THOMPSON/REVELLE for Juan de Fuca ROV work in late summer 1997, provide for an open-ended excursion down to the southern EPR, and allow for joint ROV and submersible operations as soon as practical on the new ATLANTIS.
Global Initiatives - Mike Perfit presented world maps showing the areas of interest for ALVIN/ROV operations, see Appendix VI. Interest areas for ALVIN and the ROVs are global and include the Western Pacific, Southern EPR, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. DESSC has identified global heroes to coordinate programs for these regions.
Patty Fryer, hero for the Western Pacific, reported that she just recently returned from a planning meeting in Japan. JAMSTEC presented their tentative schedule which showed a potential for collaborative work with the U.S. in the Izu-Bonin-Marianas arc. The Japanese are interested in multichannel work in waters deeper than 6500 meters. They have suggested establishing an international center to be funded jointly by the U.S. and Japan. Bob Stern (UT Dallas) should have a workshop report available soon and they will be available on the UNOLS WWW homepage <http://www.gso.uri.edu/unols/unols.html>.
IV. Integrated Deep Submergence Management and Operations Plan:
1. Integration of ALVIN and tethered vehicle personnel - Dick Pittenger reviewed WHOI's proposed concept of operations, see Appendix VII for all view graphs on this topic. He began by describing the facility which consists of ATLANTIS, ALVIN and the ROVs (ARGO/Medea/Jason/DSL-120). Although ABE is not part of the facility, Dick provided a description of the vehicle. Dick reviewed ATLANTIS' layout and highlighted the deep submergence modifications. He then displayed the lists of the equipment installed on the ship and vehicles. Dick reviewed the Operational Scientific Services (OSS) which consists of the marine technicians, shipboard data management, shared use equipment, calibration facilities, mooring/rigging shop and diving program.
An overview of the WHOI deep submergence organization was provided and included the functional relationships between DESSC, WHOI and funding agencies. It also listed the Deep Submergence Facility (DSF) contacts for shore and at-sea support. WHOI's operation plan centralizes cruise preparation and science liaison. PIs would contact the Marine Operations Coordinator, Don Moller, who in turn would communicate with the appropriate ROV, ALVIN and/or SSSG coordinator(s). The concept proposes a single point of contact. Coordination would stay with the marine operations coordinator through all stages of a cruise. The entire marine operations cruise preparation sequence was reviewed. It begins with assembling funded and proposed deep submergence science work and concludes with cruise demobilization.
The optimum integrated DSOG personnel requirements for both shore and at-sea support were presented. On shore support would consist of 14 people which increases WHOI's present support team by a couple of people. At-sea support was divided into combined ATLANTIS operations and flyaway ROV operations. The combined operations represent those operations in which both ALVIN and the ROVs would be on ATLANTIS. Combined support requirements call for 12 people. The flyaway ROV operations represent the scenario in which ALVIN would be operating off ATLANTIS and the ROVs would be working off another ship. This scenarios requires two support teams. The ATLANTIS/ALVIN team would consist of nine people and the ROV fly-away team would consist of ten people. It was noted that the team sizes include support during personnel vacation time. It was also pointed out that it would be difficult to do simultaneous combined and flyaway ROV operations since an additional van would be needed to support the flyaway ROV operations.
2. Plan for shorebased and shipboard operations - The pros and cons of the various ALVIN/ROV operating modes were discussed. Combined operations with ALVIN and the ROVs on ATLANTIS would be the most cost-effective, efficient asset utilization. The cons would be that it presents limited geographic/temporal coverage. ALVIN on ATLANTIS and the ROVs in fly-away mode would extend the geographic capability; however, it would be more expensive, harder on equipment and personnel, and limit ROV availability due to shipping requirements. Also, there would be an excess of personnel while the ROVs were being shipped between operations. The costs of various operation models were reviewed. Costs were based on ALVIN and the ROVs each costing one half the annual cost of ATLANTIS. The annual ALVIN/ROV joint operations cost is estimated at 2/3 the annual cost of ATLANTIS. Summaries of past ALVIN/AII costs and usage were provided.
3. Operational/Management/Safety Issues - Dick Pittenger continued his report by explaining that there are a number of operational/management/safety issues and policies associated with the integrated facility of which the community needs to be aware. On average, a period of 24 hours is estimated to be needed between suspension of ROV operations and commencement of ALVIN dive operations. Switch-over times for ROV and tethered vehicles are estimated at 12-18 hours for Jason to ARGO-II and vice versa, and 6-12 hours for DSL-120 to either Jason or ARGO-II and vice versa. A definition of the deep submergence tool suite and general operational criteria and logistics must be defined by PIs during the planning stage of their field work. Equipment and personnel will be tailored on a cruise-by-cruise basis. Substitutions of vehicles in the field would be difficult.
Lastly, Dick reviewed the cost and logistical issues of the integrated facility. For cost-effective DSF operations, advanced planning and scheduling are necessary. There would be benefits from operating all DSF vehicles from ATLANTIS for science programs and facility cost-effectiveness. However, there are some logistical and operations benefits to preserving an ROV fly-away capability. Well established protocols between the Federal funding agencies, UNOLS and WHOI would be necessary for the integrated operations. The MOU should be revised to accommodate the new integrated nature of the Facility. Adequate personnel/engineering support and long-range planning for facility upgrades should be factored into its continued support.
The meeting participants agreed that WHOI's concept of operations needs to be distributed to the community. The community needs educating on the new methods. Mike requested the DESSC members to review WHOI's concept of operations and forward any suggestions to Dick or himself. They would like to have the DSF concept of operations revised to reflect DESSC and funding agency comments, and made available to the community and presented at the DESSC meeting in December.
V. Synopses of Ongoing Upgrade and Overhaul Plans:
1. DESSC Upgrade Priorities - Dan Orange provided a history of ALVIN's upgrade and overhaul plans, see Appendix VIII. In June 1995, the DESSC realized the potential opportunity to upgrade ALVIN systems during its 1996/97 overhaul period. Dan and Cindy Van Dover solicited the community for input, then compiled a prioritized list of ALVIN upgrades. After a series of meetings and discussions with the operator and funding agencies, the list was revised. Dan reviewed the revised list of priorities in order of importance (Appendix VIII includes an explanation of each item):
In addition to the prioritized list of upgrades, Dan raised other comments and issues regarding the Facility:
Dan concluded by noting that various items have been purchased and will be incorporated during this overhaul. These include the pan and tilt camera and the new 3-chip video camera.
2. ALVIN Overhaul Plans - Barrie Walden reported on the ALVIN's overhaul, see Appendix IX. The sub has been disassembled and the frame is being inspected. The hull will be inspected in October. The syntactic foam is aging and will be examined to determine if replacement is necessary. ALVIN's explosive bolts will be replaced in November. The bulk of the overhaul work involves the sub assembly. The overhaul plans include battery and battery box replacement, rewiring of the relay cans, repackaging the motor controllers, imaging and data infrastructure upgrade, installation of WINFrog navigation and the forebody camera/pan-and-tilt. The overhaul is scheduled to be complete by 31 March 1997. In April, ALVIN will be put on ATLANTIS and the sub and ship will be ready for science in early June.
Barrie compared DESSC's prioritized list of ALVIN upgrades to the current overhaul plans. (The overhaul plans were also provided in Dan Fornari's suggested approach for an equipment upgrade proposal, Appendix X. The infrastructure for the datalogger upgrade will be installed, however, the upgrade will not be complete until the late 1997-1998 time frame. DSOG is looking at ways to add syntactic foam and additional power. During the overhaul, WHOI will ensure that adequate wiring to the forebody of ALVIN is installed to accommodate additional camera connections. Additionally, the in-hull wiring from the penetrators to the video recorders will be replaced. DSOG will attempt to improve the in-hull 35 mm cameras. Funding will be needed to purchase dual head scanning sonars, slurp pumps, Homer probes, pencil cameras, a CTD pump and a laser ring gyroscope. It was noted that the gyro must be a northseeker for use with ALVIN, however, for ROV operations the increased resolution of the ring laser gyro would provide much improved heading capability. DSOG has tested different LCD monitors but have not found one that they would like to purchase. They will continue their search. DSOG does not have plans to obtain a new set of push cores. The existing push cores work well in a wide variety of terrains and any specialized corers should be provided by the science program needing them. Barrie reported that DSOG will produce a power training video as part of the 1997 upgrade proposal. They will also look into ways of redesigning the VB systems so that it can be implemented in a future in a future major overhaul.
3. Status of New Proposals, etc. - Dan Fornari presented the suggested approach to the WHOI-DSOG equipment upgrade proposal, see Appendix X. The approach addresses each item on the prioritized list of upgrades and recommends the type of equipment needed to satisfy the upgrade. In addition to the prioritized upgrades, Dan also addressed other items that could be included in the upgrade proposal. These include having a data overlay capability on the video. The capability would preserve the quality of the image and at the same time allow the time/date to be added to an image. Dan also suggested that the inductively coupled link for remote temperature probes and modular data connections to ALVIN and Jason manipulators be included in the proposal. He noted that the Jason elevators have been working very well and improvements in the $5k to $10K would be extremely beneficial.
Dan concluded by explaining that the proposal has not been submitted since there are a number of unresolved issues. With the overhaul underway, some questions are being answered. The proposal will be ready for submittal by late October. It is hoped that if approved, funds could be available by the first quarter of next year, since this would allow for the incorporation of many of the prioritized upgrades during ALVIN's overhaul period.
4. Jason Overhaul/Upgrade plans - Barrie Walden reported that requirements for the 1997 cruise to DERBYSHIRE wreckage call for a complete forensic survey and sampling of the ship's metal. Some upgrading of Jason's systems will be necessary before conducting these operations and will benefit the vehicle systems and future science capabilities.
5. Third Party Tool Policy - Dan Fornari provided a revised draft of the 3rd Party Tool Policy, see Appendix XI. The revisions were highlighted in bold print. There was discussion regarding the maintenance of a tool while it is in custody of the developer. Dan said he would rewrite the policy and distribute it to the agency representatives.
VI. Navy's plans for SEACLIFF/TURTLE - Sujata Millick reported that the Navy plans to retire SEACLIFF and TURTLE. SEACLIFF is scheduled to retire in FY98 and TURTLE will retire in FY97. The Navy will request DESSC to review and evaluate the requirement for deep diving manned submersibles and identify the current and future capabilities needed to fulfill those requirements. (Note: since this meeting, Navy sent a letter to DESSC requesting their input and the Chair has organized a working group to address the Navy's questions and future deep submergence needs.) DESSC will utilize the AGU meeting to poll the community on this topic.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.