DEep Submergence Science Committee Meeting
The
Marriott Courtyard at San Francisco Downtown
* Rincon Hill
Room*
299 Second
Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
December 4, 2005
A copy of these minutes are available at <200512desmi.pdf>
Executive Summary
The Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC) met
on December 4, 2005 at The Marriott Courtyard hotel in San Francisco, CA. The meeting was chaired by Debbie
Kelley. The meeting began with presentations by the Principal
Investigators who used submergence vehicles in 2005. Funding agency representatives provided budget information as
well as agency priorities. A variety of
reports were made by the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF) operator to
summarize facility operations, planned activities, and system upgrades. Reports
on the status of design and construction of the replacement HOV and the hybrid
ROV were provided. DESSC activities,
future plans and issues were reported including discussions on long-range
planning, public outreach and educational activities.
Action Items (New and Continuing):
Community Input on science instrumentation, tools,
sensors, etc for replacement HOV Create a community
on-line survey and request input.
(Action UNOLS Office/DESSC)
Guidelines for Bringing
New Assets into the NDSF Committee
review and comment on the NSF revisions to the draft guidelines. Hold phone conference in early 2006. Work to finalize guidelines. (Action DESSC)
Evaluate ABE/Sentry
for NDSF Review request by WHOI to bring
ABE/Sentry into the NDSF.
Evaluate vehicles and formulate recommendation (Action DESSC)
Membership A nomination is needed to fill Dave Mendels
vacancy. A call for nominations will be
distributed to UNOLS reps. DESSC is encouraged to provide member suggestions. (Action Annette and DESSC)
HOV Safety Standards
Project Establish committee (1 female
science rep needed) and appoint Chair.
Organize initial meeting. (Action Deb and Annette)
Appendices:
|
I |
Introduction
and Agenda |
|
II |
|
|
III |
Alvin
Science Reports (4.4 Mb) |
|
IV |
Jason2
Science Reports (3.2 Mb) |
|
V |
|
|
VI |
NOAA
Report (1.2 Mb) |
|
VII |
|
|
VIII |
|
|
IX |
|
|
X |
|
|
XI |
|
|
XII |
|
|
XIII |
|
|
XIV |
|
|
XV |
|
|
XVI |
|
|
XVII |
|
|
XVIII |
|
|
XIX |
|
|
XX |
|
|
XXI |
RIDGE
Data Management (8.3 Mb) |
|
XXII |
MATE
Report (1.4 Mb) |
|
XXIII |
Ocean
Observatory Initiative (1.1 Mb) |
|
XXIV |
|
|
XXV |
|
|
XXVI |
Meeting Summary Report
Introductory Remarks, Meeting Logistics, Introductions - Debbie Kelley,
Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC) Chair, called the meeting to order
at 0830 on Sunday, December 4, 2005.
The meeting was held at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in San Francisco,
CA. The agenda for the meeting is
included as Appendix I. The items of the agenda are reported in the
order addressed. The list of attendees
is included as Appendix II.
The
minutes of the June 2005 DESSC Meeting <200506desmi.html>
were accepted as written. Debbie
introduced the members of the DESSC.
Jeff Karson, January 30 to March 8, 2005 Jeff Karson reported on his Atlantis cruise to the Pito Deep. Jeff was the Chief Scientist of the cruise and participants included individuals from Duke University, University of Hawaii, University of South Florida, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, College of Wooster, University of Victoria, University of Illinois,
University of Rhode Island, and
France. There were two study areas
that were about 6 km by 3 km each. They
conducted full side-scan surveys and transects at 300-500 m. DSL-120 Side-Scan Sonar was used
for five days along with a towed magnetometer.
Jason II was used
for nine transects (11 days) with 200 hours on the bottom. They collected about 254 samples. Twelve Alvin dives
were made and 181 samples collected. Other
activities included Sea Beam mapping and dredging.
Jeff reported on some vehicle
improvements that would be helpful.
Navigation is always a problem when working on deep escarpments. The Jason navigation was much better
on this cruise. Lighting is another
issue and improvements are needed when working on high relief areas.
Robert Vrijenhoek and Cindy Van Dover, March 12 - April 6, 2005 - Bob Vrijenhoek reported on his and Cindys Atlantis/Alvin cruise. Bob has 12 NSF-funded dives and Cindy had 2 NSF-funded dives. The goals were to sample biology at 38°S vents on the Pacific Antarctic Ridge, revisit vents at the 31-32S region of EPR, and to sample biology at vents on the eastern and western flanks of Easter Microplate.
Collaborators included Greg Rouse and Karen Jacobson. Accomplishments included 12 successful Alvin dives, two dives were lost to weather. The Alvin digital video was very good and the DVD copies were very useful. Support from the Alvin pilots was excellent. Some things however, did go wrong. No weather days were scheduled into the cruise and the transit time was underestimated. Vacuum sampling needs improvement. They recommend a rotary suction sampler like the Harbor Branch design. The digital overhead cameras were not very useful.
Tim
Shank, 19 May 3 June Tim Shanks
slides were presented by Dan Fornari. This
was a NOAA funded project Exploring New Patterns of Biological Succession
at the Rosebud Hydrothermal Vents - Galαpagos Rift. PIs included Shank, Fornari, Seyfried, Ding, Ward, Rzhanov,
Beaulieu, Soule, and Susan Humphris. Vehicles
and equipment used during the cruise included Alvin,
the TowCam, the Ghostbuster Chemical Sensor, In-situ Chemical Analyzers, Larval/Sediment
Traps, Time-lapse camera, In-situ Fixation Chambers, Major Samplers, Basalt
Colonization Panels and Vemco T°C loggers. There was an education element of the project, Dive and Discover
Expedition 9.
Highlights of the cruise included a
multibeam survey, nine TowCam surveys, mosaicked Rosebud field (60x50m area)
from Alvins downlooking camera, eleven Alvin dives, Imagenex Sonar, and vent sampling. A new venting area was discovered,
Rosebowl. Two integrated colonization
experiments were deployed.
Kevin Brown and Dave Hilton, June 7 - June 16 The Brown/Hilton Atlantis/Alvin cruise was off of Costa Rica to deploy instrumentation. An Osmotic sampler, 6 CAT meter, a new deep sea (Mass Surfer) mass spectrometer system, and a precision pressure gauge and temperature sensors were deployed. They deployed five peepers for pore water analysis. Various biological samples of: Cold seep crabs, tubeworms, clams, and shrimps for microbiological studies were collected. They found a large mass of tubeworms on the cold seeps, some very long. Eight dives were planned, with one lost to a ship failure. The equipment will need to be picked up next year (2006) in June.
They
had no problems with the sub and support from the pilots was great. The only problem experienced was that they
were at the end of the vehicle battery cycle, so a few of the dives were
short. They were able to complete all
of the objectives and the cruise was a big success.
Maurice Tivey, 13 August 3 September Maurice reported
on the China Ocean Mineral Resources R &
D Association (COMRA) Alvin Dive Program at Juan de Fuca.
COMRA purchased four dives to gain experience in working at vent sites.
Participants included four COMRA engineers and one scientist. The cruise activities included deploying and
retrieving three vent caps. Eighteen mineral baskets were deployed and recovered.
Gas tight water bottles were tested and used successfully.
Samples included 375 kg of sulfide, biological material, and fifteen
sediment cores. They were very
happy with their results.
Meg Tivey, April 5 - May 11, RV Melville/DSV Jason2 Geoff Wheat presented the report for Meg Tivey. The Melville/Jason2 cruise was on April
5 May 7, 2005 at the Lau Basin. PIs
included M.K. Tivey, J. Seewald (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), C.G.
Wheat (University of Alaska), M. Mottl (University of Hawaii), A-L. Reysenbach
(Portland State University), and S. Kim (Moss Landing Marine Lab). The program was for sampling and initial characterization of
hydrothermal fluids, deposits, microfauna and megafauna at vent fields along
the Eastern Lau Spreading Center (ELSC).
They successfully
characterized each of 6 vent fields for:
Distributions of types of venting, types
of vent structures and morphologies, and their relations to substrate and the
range and distribution of megafauna (SM2000 and down-looking pixelfly)
Fluid chemistry (Seewald gastight and major
bottles)
Vent deposit mineralogy/bulk geochemistry
(grab samples/bioboxes)
Molecular and physiological diversity of
microbes associated with diffuse and high T fluids and active chimneys
(subsamples of fluids/solids)
Range, abundance, distribution, and reproductive
status of dominant megafaunal organisms in vent fields and distribution of
larvae/plankton in water column above vents (slurp/grab/bioboxes and MOCNESS)
R/V
Melville, ROV Jason2, systems, operations, and process were
all very good. The
Lay their
own transponders (takes less time than trying to figure out why ones left by
earlier cruises are either not responding, or responding with a weak signal)
Ask for
more contingency days if ship time is in cyclone season. They lost nine days to weather (when they
could not put Jason2 in the water, or had to recover early. (They had 21 days of successful dives)
n the 10-year time frame there
should be some plan for Jason2 to be able to launch in higher sea states.
Robert Vrijenhoek and Cindy Van Dover, May 15 - June 3, Melville/Jason2 Bob Vrijenhoek provided the report on his and Cindys Jason2 expedition to Fiji-Lau Basin. Bob was funded for 12 Jason2 dives and Cindy was funded for two dives. The goals were to sample biology at the Lau sites identified by the RIDGE program and to sample biology at N. Fiji sites.
Cruise accomplishments included 14 successful Jason2 dive days with no dives lost to weather. Jason2 payload and digital video was excellent. The virtual van had an excellent annotation capability. Jason2 pilots were excellent. Items that could be improved include:
Scheduling
weather days into the program.
The
vacuum sampling was very poor
They
recommend a rotary suction sampler like the Harbor Branch design
Launch crane is dangerous even at mild sea-states
Debbie Kelley and John Delaney, September
11-September 17, Thompson/Jason2 Deb Kelley reported on the Thompson/Jason2
cruise to examine extreme conditions
under which life thrives, survives, and expires. The program included development of microbial incubators. The cruise also included rock drilling using
Jason2. They completed all
objectives with successful holes in Roane, Giraffe, Hulk, and Gremlin. Three incubators were deployed for use in
three colonization experiments.
Deb reported that it was difficult to drill and fly the vehicle system. Often the drill would decouple from the vehicle sled. Finding good drilling targets was difficult. Medea met an early demise when the pressure housing leaked. Jason2 team did a great job fixing the problem. It is recommended that they consider operating the system without Medea. The time it takes to maneuver with Medea is difficult. Deb also recommended that a different location, mid-ship, be considered for launching Jason2 to be able to launch in higher sea states.
John Delaney and Debbie Kelley, September 18-October 4, Thompson/Jason2 Deb continued with a report on the VISION05 cruise using Thompson and Jason2. This represented the first high-definition transmission from the seafloor reaching across the US, Canada, Australia, and Tokyo. The cruise also had participation by the REVEL Program. Five middle-high schoolteachers and one mentor participated from REVEL. During the cruise they were able to complete the KECK-funded proto-Neptune Observatory that included installation of 20 in situ seismic instruments, chemical, thermal, and biological sensors. It was a very intense cruise for instrument deployment.
Dana Yoerger ABE operations, VISIONS05,
Thompson/Jason2 Dana Yoerger
reported on the ABE operations that were conducted during the
Kelley/Delaney cruise. Using ABE,
they were able to map the cable route approaching Axial Valley and the Axial
Valley from 47°
56 to 48° 01N. ABE
operated simultaneously with Jason2.
They would launch ABE before or during the Jason2 dive and
then ABE would sleep until the Jason2 dive was
completed. The vehicles shared the
acoustic net in rudimentary fashion.
Non-NDSF PI Reports -
Hubert
Staudigel, March-April, 2005, Pisces V Hubert reported on his Pisces V cruise to Vailuluu
Seamount, Samoa. They were interested
in the area on the eastern side of Samoa.
An active volcano was discovered in 1999. The crater creates about 60 black smokers and seismometers have
indicated earthquake activity. Maps of
the research area were displayed. One
of the areas, Nafanua showed the presence of a lot of eels and was full of fish
carcasses. They caught some eels and
discovered that they eat shrimp, however, they did not find shrimp at the
site. The cruise was successful and all
goals were accomplished.
Bob
Embley, April-May, 2005, Pisces V
Bob reported on his cruise off New Zealand that included 17 dives at eight
sites with Pisces V. Very few of
the sites had ever been visited with submersibles. It was a very successful cruise.
Dan Fornaris camera was used on the sub. There are very interesting features on the Arc volcanoes and
there is a lot to learn. Muscles were
found on all of the volcanoes.
Dwight Coleman, Robert Ballard, and Deb Kelley, July 17 August 4, R/V Ron Brown/Argus and Hercules Dwight reported on the NOAA funded Lost City Hydrothermal Field Expedition in 2005. They had nine days on site that included eight dives with vehicles Argus and Hercules. Argus is similar to Medea with a high-definition video camera. The system is linked to a satellite-tracking antenna for networking back to shore. Networking with via a C-Band Satellite. There was a shore-based command center at the University of Washington (UW), where Deb Kelley was located. From UW, they were able to direct the dives and sampling efforts. There was also collaboration with the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Multibeam datasets were ftpd to UNH, where Larry Mayers group processed the data and turned it back around to the ship. They collected over 150 hours of video footage and thousands of digital stills images. They had a steep learning curve to get the shore-based system up and running.
In other news, the conversion of Ocean Explorations ship, Okeanos Explorer, is moving along. The University of Rhode Island has plans to build an Institute for Exploration.
Chuck
Fisher and Jim Childress, June 2005, Melville/Jason2 Chuck reported that the Jason2 cruise to Lau
Basin went well. They were looking at
the biology of animals and were able to bring animals to the surface
alive. One of the highlights of the
cruise was the ability to use the Jason2 navigation and mosaic on the
centimeter scale. The information could
then be used to plan the next dive.
Chuck recommended that on cruises that have lengthy vehicle dives, such
as this one, it would be useful to have two Chief Scientists on the cruise.
Mid
Morning Break
National
Science Foundation (NSF) - Dolly Dieter
briefly reported that most of the NSF items would be addressed later in the
meeting. She cautioned that the budget
projections are not optimistic.
·
NDSF
cruises:
Barbara
explained that FY06 included budget surprises.
Both OE and NURP budgets were cut in half. This could result in the potential closing of the NURP centers on
the east coast. It will take a couple
months for all of this to be sorted out and it is difficult to know the
outcome. A lot of the decisions are
being controlled by external forces.
Barbara has appreciated the support and letters that have been sent in
response to this situation. The FY06
budget is signed in stone. The best
NURP and OE can do is seek funds from within NOAA, which is a very difficult
thing to do. They need to concentrate
on the FY07 budget. Dolly Dieter added
that NOAA has been a partner in NDSF for years. Any community support that can be sent to Barb would be helpful.
The
new OE ship is expected to be ready for service in the fall 2007.
UNOLS Office Review - The UNOLS Council performed a review
of the UNOLS Office. Based on their evaluation, the Council
passed a resolution endorsing MLML to host the UNOLS office for a third
three-year term.
Fleet Renewal and Activities:
Ocean Class
Early in 2005, UNOLS provided ONR with a recommendation on a hull form for
the Ocean Class. A monohull was
recommended.
After 32 years of
service, the R/V Gyre, operated by Texas A&M, retired from the UNOLS
Fleet in August 2005.
The Fleet
Improvement Committee is drafting an update to the Fleet Improvement Plan. A draft should be available for review in
2006. Based on the plan drafted by the
Federal agencies, the fleet of 2020 will have fewer ships and days available to
support science than the current fleet.
Discussion:
Mike
Perfit asked what the science community could do in regard to the budget
shortfall and access to ships issues.
Reply - Individual institutions need to contact their Congressional
representatives. UNOLS cannot
lobby. The community must clearly
articulate their needs. They can
communicate with CORE for advice.
Larry
Clark (NSF) provided
some thoughts on the funding issues and elaborated on NSF Activities. NSF is not allowed to lobby Congress. One way that the community can help is by
getting the word out about the exciting research that is being conducted. Communicate with the NSF program managers
and directors on science accomplishments.
Project reports are very important and should be better done. These are important things.
It
is important for people to understand and be aware of the ongoing facility
investments at NSF (Marcus Langseth, the RHOV, the ARRV, and the Regional
Class ships). NSF is often asked how
they can continue to move forward with new investments, when they cant afford
to support the facilities that they have.
In response, in the years of healthy budgets, NSF set aside funds for
renewal. They have planned and budgeted
funds for the next years to support these facility efforts without impacting
science.
Larry
explained that there are some contradictions and mixed messages within the
community. The community should not
think that this is a bad time to submit proposals. NSF can show that the highly rated proposals exist. It is important to keep proposal pressure
high. If the proposal pressure drops,
the agencies will have a difficult time promoting science budgets.
In
other NSF news, there is an MG&G Program Director vacancy. Dave Epp, Program Director retired in the
fall. The position has been advertised
and the end of January is the target date.
National
Facility Operators Report - Bob Detrick (WHOI) opened the National Facility report and
provided an update on personnel changes.
His slides are included as Appendix VIII.
Dr. Vicki
Ferrini was appointed as the NDSF Data Manager
Phil Forte
was promoted to ROV Expedition Leader
Gavin
Eppard was promoted to Alvin Pilot
Anthony
Tarantino is leaving the Alvin Group
Maurice
Tivey steps down as Chief Scientist of Deep Submergence at the end of 2005; he
will remain chair of the internal WHOI Deep Submergence Advisory Committee
(DSAC)
Chris
German will become Chief Scientist of Deep Submergence effective January 2006
There was a round of applause in
appreciation for Maurice Tiveys efforts.
NDSF
Vehicle Operations Summary - Rick Chandler provided the summary of operations over the
past year. His slides are included as Appendix
IX.
In
2005 Alvin operations included work at the Pito deep, South Pacific,
East Pacific Rise, Off Costa Rica, Juan de Fuca, and off New England. There were 278 operating days for eight
science cruises. It was a short season
due to the overhaul planned at the end of the year. Days on station totaled 101 with 85 dives. Fifteen dives were lost (10
weather, 3 medical emergency, and 2 ship-related). The average dive duration was 8.0 hours. The current Alvin operations group
includes four pilots and three technicians.
The average dive depth was 2,443 meters. The operating budget for 2005 was $1.9M budget. Rick provided a breakdown of Alvin
dives by discipline. He showed a movie
of the overhaul that included Alvin being stripped down, the sphere
inspection, fore-body block inspection, and removal of the spheres.
The
2005 ROV schedule includes 201 operating days for six science cruises and 67
lowerings (66 Jason, 1 DSL120 sonar). Rick showed a map of where the vehicles had to be shipped over
the past year. In 2005, Jason2 had
its longest dive to date: 60 hrs. There
was a single DSL120 dive of 104 hrs.
Vehicle highlights included:
Upgraded Medea:
additional telem/control, added 2 thrusters
Added
Insite DSC on science pan & tilt
Tested
components of new suction sampler
Operated
rock drill
Supported
HiDef video camera (Visions 05)
ABE rescue of Jason2 (Jason got stuck and was freed by ABE.)
A
Jason2 launch, recovery and operation test is planned on Kilo Moana
in the fall 2006.
NDSF
Support Ships
Rick reported on plans for Atlantis shipyard period in Feb-March
2006. Projects include:
Overhaul
the bow thruster to address vibration issues
Repair
Hydro Lab deck (sound insulating false deck)
Tank
repairs and inspections (routine maintenance)
Routine
underwater body preservation and coating of bottom and freeboard
A-frame
maintenance, including climber rail
The
Atlantis equipment proposal that will be submitted in December 2005,
will include the following in its request:
New Kongsberg DP system
New Isotope van
Winch slip ring assemblies (ROV Use)
Update
on Data and Archiving - Maurice Tivey reported on NDSF data and archiving
activities. His slides are included as Appendix
X.
Dr.
Vicki Ferrini was hired in late summer as the NDSF Data manager. This is a new, half time position and the
responsibilities will include:
Support for
DVLNav processing software
Support for
Imagenex sonar processing (Alvin) and SM2000 multibeam sonar (Jason,
Alvin)
Assures
shipboard support for mapping and data processing
Interface
with external database efforts (R2K-ISS)
Vicky
can be added to science proposals for additional support.
Maurice
discussed the Framegrabber for Alvin and Jason2, which allows
image frames to be captured from video sources. It allows the science party instant feedback and it can be used
to plan next day dives. The information
can also be sent back to shore. Other
features include:
Archiving
effort extends real-time data collection
Web access
and security
Data
quality assurance needed (e.g. navigation)
Derived
data sets not included (Imagenex sonar)
Improves
efficiency of science program planning
For additional information about the Framegrabber, visit the website at <http://www.whoi.edu/marops/vehicles/Alvin/Alvin_framegrabber.html
http://www.whoi.edu/marops/vehicles/Jason/van_cruises.html>.
Maurice discussed the experimental shipgrabber
<http://4dgeo.whoi.edu/shipdata/index.html>. Presently the shipgrabber is in operation
on Oceanus (Knorr and Atlantis trials). The Shipgrabber
provides a real-time display of underway data. There is web-based access and online archive access after the cruise
has ended. Maurice showed some examples.
Deb
Kelley commented that currently the whole dive program (cruise) is contained on
one file. She recommended that it would
be good if each Jason2 dive were listed separately.
In
other activities, WHOI, SIO and the San Diego Supercomputer Center are
working together on a digital data archiving and preservation project including
both shipboard and deep submergence vehicle data. NSF/CISE and the Library of Congress fund the effort.
The project goals are to:
1.
Combine
digital library architecture and search/display tools of SIOExplorer with Alvin
Framegrabber and Jason Virtual Van;
2. Test notions of
scalability to handle vast volumes of digital video and camera data collected
by NDSF vehicles;
3. Establish
interoperability between existing data repositories at SIO and WHOI;
Develop prototype system to retrieve selected shipboard and Alvin data from the Galapagos region for cruises from 1977 to 2005
The Legacy Data contains approximately 70,000 Alvin and Jason images.
Images
are mostly Alvin shots, but IMS database includes vehicles, people,
and classic images. <http://www.whoi.edu/ims/>
Lastly, Maurice provided a summary of how the archives were used in 2005 and income from the archives. There were 2500 external requests for visual or deep submergence information in 2005. Examples include National Geographic Magazine, Geo Magazine, Houghton Mifflin, Dorling Kindersley, Scholastic, Oxford Univ. Press, Pearson Education IRC, museums, planetariums, and marine scientific associations. There were about 500 press kits plus media events such as the Visions05 cruise, media activities related to NOAA cruises, and a Naval Command college presentation. There were science and educational materials for museum exhibits, television e.g. Discovery Channel, BBC, TLC, History Channel, PBS, and radio broadcasts.
Material
and information was also provided to educators and authors for books and
classroom activities, student competitions like the MATE ROV and LEGO
Challenges and outreach websites such as Dive & Discover and Extreme 2005. FY2005 total income received was
$22,989.46. These funds are returned to
science. Many
images and video clips are provided to the WHOI community, the news media, the
scientific community, funding agencies and others at no charge. WHOI also responds to educators around the
country sharing information with their classrooms.
Lunch Break
Upgrades to National Deep Submergence Facility:
Alvin Overhaul Plans - Dudley Foster reported on Alvins overhaul plans. His slides are included as Appendix XI. The major objective of the overhaul is complete
disassembly, inspection and rebuild. Progress
can be monitored at <http://Alvincam.whoi.edu>. The sub should be back in operation by April
2006.
Overhaul
improvements include:
Redesigned lights & propulsion relay chassis for solid state
relays
Revise mount for Doppler Velocity Log to allow spare interchange
Titan 4 fully upgraded for 7000m capability
Replace variable ballast sea water control valve
Replace explosive bolts with Frangibolts
Replace Octans gyro with Phins gyro -- improved heading accuracy,
INS capable
Upgrade Atlantis USBL to Nautronix NASPos
WHOI funded Sentry tests during sea trials
Roadmap
for a new acoustic navigation system
- Jon Howland reported on navigation upgrades.
His slides are included as Appendix XII. He explained that a new system is needed
because of obsolescence of current hardware systems and reduced reliability. Some hardware is over 20 years old. There are impending new requirements for
navigational capabilities (Ridge DB, ISS, multiple vehicle nav) and there is a
need for improved efficiency. The
system currently has:
Benthos 455
Acoustic Signal Processor (ROV, Alvin)
LBL PC
Custom
Hardware (Alvin)
DP/Display
PC (ROV)
DVLNav PC
(ROV, Alvin)
They
would like the upgraded system to have:
Generic
ASP usable with all vehicles (ROV, Alvin,
AUVs)
Computational
engine
Multiple
customizable displays
Generic
I/O
Extendable/supportable
A two-phase approach is planned.
Phase
A would include:
Development/procurement
of new ASP
Development
of requirements (ongoing)
Promulgation
to potential vendors/internal developers
System
development/test
Software port/enhancement
as necessary
Hardware
procurement/replacement
The
Phase A requirements call for compatibility with existing vehicles/modes and
compatibility with simultaneous multiple vehicle navigation. Phase B plans include enhancement to DVLNav
capabilities and implementation of new hardware/software across vehicle fleet.
Suction
Samplers Andy Bowen
reported on the status of the suction samplers (Appendix XIII). The sampler design would be a modular system
suitable for use on both Alvin and Jason2.
It would have removable cassettes with up to 3 inlet with variable
flow rate. There would be no
cross-contamination of samples. They
want the system to be compatible with elevator use.
The design concept is complete with detailed component design underway. The main system suction pump was tested on Jason2 during the 2005 operating season. The test of final system is planned for the April 06 Jason2 engineering dive.
Bob
Vrijenhoek recommended that it would be useful to have extra canisters; a
surplus is needed.
Rock Drill Maurice Tivey reported on the purchase of the ROV rock drill from
MBARI and transfer to WHOI in August 2005 through a grant from NSF. His slides are included as Appendix XIV.
The drill was used during Deb Kelleys Thompson/Jason2 cruise in September 2005. During the cruise holes were reamed out to
20 depth using the drill. Five cores
were collected (15 45 cm) and five in-situ incubators installed. Those interested in using the rock drill should
visit the cruise planning
website at <http://www.whoi.edu/sites/rovdrill/>. It is an interactive
form. The estimated cost for use of
the drill for a 2-week cruise is about $27,000.
The cost can be included in the science proposal.
Vibracorer Eli Silver reported on vibracorers and indicated that if there is community interest, vibracorers can be acquired. MBARI has one for each of their vessels and has offered to build one for NDSF. Two things are needed, NSF funding to buy the vibracorer and NSF must see that the community has a need for this. If anyone is interested in having a vibracorer available for use, he/she should contact him. The vibracorer only cores in the vertical orientation for now and the corer is about 3 inches in diameter. Drawings of the vibracorer are available. It is hydraulic operated. Eli would like to use a vibracorer on Jason2.
Deep Submergence Scheduling: 2006 and Beyond:
2006 NDSF Schedules and Beyond - Liz Caporelli presented the 2006 NDSF
schedule (Appendix XV).
The Atlantis/Alvin schedule includes 264 operating days. Science operations are expected to begin in
May after completion of Alvins overhaul. Work areas include the Gulf of Mexico, Costa Rica, off California
and Oregon, East Pacific Rise and Juan de Fuca. The proposed ROV 2006 ROV schedule includes 169 days (100 NSF
days, NOAA 62 pending).
Liz provided a listing of 2007 NDSF requests by PI. There are eight 2007 funded
Alvin requests for 66 days. Pending
and new requests total 62 days. Funded
requests for Alvin or ROVs include five requests for a total of 26
days. There are eighteen requests
for a total of 146 NDSF pending and new requests. Funded Jason2 requests total 95 days
for 3 ship time requests. Pending
and new Jason2 Requests total Days 139.
NDSF requests for 2007 and
Geographic Distribution - Annette DeSilva
provided a summary of NDSF requests for 2007 and beyond along with maps showing
the geographic distribution of the requests.
Her slides are included as Appendix XVI. Funded work areas for 2007 include the Mid
Atlantic Ridge, Juan de Fuca, North East Pacific Rise, South Pacific, and Off
Hawaii.
Operational Summary and
Collaborations with Other Deep Submergence Activities:
NOAA/HURL - John Smith
(NOAA) provided a report on HURL programs.
His slides are included as Appendix XVII. 2005 HURL accomplishments included:
DESSC Activities and Issues:
Community Input on science instrumentation,
tools, sensors, etc -
Deb Kelley reported that a list of planned sensors for the replacement HOV is available at <http://www.unols.org/committees/dessc/replacement_HOV/RHOV_science_sensor_list.PDF>
and in Appendix XIX. Current sensors planned include:
Navigation
Sensors:
Depth transducers (2)
Inertial Navigation System (INS).
Doppler Velocity Log (DVL)
Search Sonar 800 m range
Altimeter
Environmental
Sensors:
Seawater Conductivity and Temperature
Probe
Portable Temperature Probes - new
version
Sound Velocity Profile similar to
current one
Image
Sensors
Pan and Tilt (2) Observer
controlled-use current Alvin 3-chips
External Digital Still Camera (DSC)
similar to Alvin
Bottom Mounted Photo Mosaicing - not yet determined
Handheld DSC, Handheld Video Camera,
Lasers
A
community on-line survey site will be posted in the future. Input is appreciated.
Replacement HOV Project Status - Bob Brown reported on the status of the Replacement HOV (RHOV) design/build
project (see Appendix XX). The personnel sphere
design contract was signed with Southwest Research Institute on 1 November. It will be a high priority to purchase titanium
early to avoid escalating titanium prices. The syntactic buoyancy foam material has improved
from 33 lbs/ft3 to 32 lbs/ft3. Development is
continuing for lighter foam. The battery vendor study is completed. Cells
from the following vendors have been selected for baseline testing: Eagle-Picher Kokam, Lithium Technology Corporation,
Lithion (tentative), and Sanyo-GS (tentative). A test plan has been developed. Review of the vehicle specifications have been completed by the Alvin
Operations and Engineering groups, and the DSL group. It is currently under review by the RHOV
Oversight Committee. Construction
of the replacement vehicle should be complete by late spring 2009. Alvin
would be taken out of service about four to five months before the replacement
vehicle becomes operational. For more
information about the project, visit <http://www.unols.org/committees/dessc/replacement_HOV/replacement_hov.html>.
Discussion
followed. Mike Perfit asked if the
database gets updated if equipment is removed.
Dale indicated that the user would need to let him know about equipment
removals.
Maurice
Tivey commented that there are a lot of DVDs that are in the archives, but are
not in the data system. Dale indicated
that they are exploring ways to get this into the system. The problems reside with the science user
equipment that collects the data and then the data goes home with the PI.
Chuck
Fisher commented that at the November RIDGE meeting the community was very
excited about getting data into the system.
There was the realization that this is a great way to establish
collaborations.
In other activities, RIDGE education programs are
going strong. Liz Goehring if the RIDGE
Office will stay with the office when it moves to Scripps Institution of
Oceanography.
Dive
and Discover Dan Fornari reported on
Dive and Discover activities. The
system is receiving a major upgrade. In
2006, the Dive and Discover expedition will be to the Antarctic in
February/March.
REVEL Deb Kelley provided the REVEL report for Veronique Robigou who could not attend the meeting. Her slides are included as Appendix XXVI. 2005 was the last year of REVEL. The Thompson cruise, Visions05, included five REVEL teachers and a mentor. They were from
Georgia,
Idaho, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
They were actively involved in the cruise and also wrote the website for
the cruise. This is the last year of
funding for this program. Veronique is
working to extend the funding. Eighty
teachers have participated in REVEL.
Ocean Exploration - Catalina Martinez reported that the NOAA Ocean Exploration
projects require that 10% of the funding goes to education.
Ocean
Observatory Initiative -
Bob Detrick provided a report on the status of the Ocean Observatory Initiative
(OOI). His slides are included as Appendix
XXIII. They are hopeful that
OOI will receive funding to begin installation in FY07. BY 2008/2009, as the observatory is installed,
additional vehicles will be needed.
Some
of the OOI activities that are underway include staffing the Project Office, establishment
of Implementing Organizations (IOs), establishing advisory committees to
facilitate communications with the community, and engaging the community in the
observatory network design to insure that observatory research opportunities
are maximized (Request for Assistance (RFA) and D&I Workshop).
Bob reviewed that ORION
Advisory Committees and their respective chairs. He is serving as the Chair of the Observatory
Steering Committee
In January 2006, the RFP for RCO and CI IOs are due. In February, the draft OOI implementation plan is expected to be completed.
An
ORION Design & Implementation Workshop will be held in March. If all goes as planned, in fall 2007 the
construction phase of OOI begins and will last through 2012.
Steve
Etchemendy and Gene Massion are the MARS Facility Co-PIs. Craig Dawe heads MARS ROV Operations.
Neptune Canada - Deb Kelley reported that Neptune Canada is moving
forward.
HROV Status
Report - Andy Bowen (WHOI) provided that status of the
Hybrid ROV (HROV) development effort.
His viewgraphs are included as Appendix XXV. The vehicle can operate in two different modes,
AUV or tethered. In the tethered
mode, the vehicle can support a manipulator.
The vehicle payload capability is 25 kg. The battery will be a rechargeable Lithium Ion. There will be two aft thrusters, two
vertical and one lateral thruster.
Sensors include a magnetometer and a CTD.
The
dynamic model of the vehicle is complete with the results being incorporated
into the final physical layout. All
ceramic pressure cases have been successfully delivered and are awaiting final
assembly and pressure test. Ceramic flotation
sphere production is on schedule with delivery of the complete order expected
early in 2006. Manipulator selection is
complete with the workspace design underway.
The prototype microfiber tether canister is completed with testing
planned using ABE in December 2005 on New Horizon. Deep fiber trials (6000m) are planned for
April 2006 near Guam. Control computer
hardware selection/evaluation is underway and Lithium ion battery packs are on
order. The prototype Light Emitting Diode
array and components were tested on Jason.
Initial sea trials of the vehicle system are pending 2007 ship
schedules.
UNOLS AGU Booth #228 Meeting participants were encouraged to
visit the UNOLS booth.
1700 Adjourn