DEep Submergence
Science Committee
Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution
May 24-25, 2006
A copy of these minutes are available as a pdf document
<200605desmi.pdf>.
Executive Summary:
The Deep Submergence Science Committee (DESSC) met on May 24-25, 2006 at
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
The meeting included agency reports from NSF and NOAA. Representatives of the National Deep
Submergence Facility (NDSF) provided reports on:
·
Vehicle operation summaries
·
NDSF data and archives
·
Ship maintenance updates and vehicle improvements
·
Navigation upgrade
·
Deep submergence scheduling in 2007 and beyond
The meeting included status reports on new vehicle design efforts at
WHOI. The replacement deep diving Human
Occupied Vehicle (HOV) is moving forward and if all goes on schedule the
replacement HOV would be ready for service in 2010. A first draft of a community on-line survey to obtain input on
the sensors desired for the RHOV was reviewed.
The Hybrid ROV project is also progressing and
the vehicle should be ready for service in 2007. An update on the status of AUV development efforts at WHOI was
provided. The DESSC reviewed WHOI’s
proposal to incorporate Abe/Sentry
into the NDSF and in turn, approved the incorporation of ABE/Sentry into the NDSF concurrent with the removal of DSL-120A and ARGO II. They will present
this recommendation to the UNOLS Council during the summer meeting.
A status report was provided from the DESSC
subcommittee on their efforts to establish safety standards for HOVs.
The DESSC discussed NDSF personnel issues and the
need to provide training opportunities to the pilots. They also reviewed their draft document on criteria for bringing
new assets into the NDSF. The document
will be finalized and presented to the UNOLS Council during their summer
meeting.
Action
Items:
(Action – DESSC draft debrief questions, Watchdogs conduct interviews)
10.
Criteria for Adding Assets to the NDSF – DESSC accepted the draft Criteria.
Deb will present it to the UNOLS Council on June 21st for
endorsement. (Kelley)
Appendices
|
I |
|
|
II |
|
|
III |
National
Science Foundation Report (1.4 Mb) - E. Dieter |
|
IV |
UNOLS
Report (2.8 Mb) - P. Wiebe |
|
V |
NDSF
Vehicle Operations Summary - R. Chandler |
|
VI |
NDSF Science User Report: - W. Chadwick |
|
VII |
Atlantis
Maintenance Period Update - A. suchy |
|
VIII |
Alvin
Overhaul Report - D. Foster |
|
IX |
ROV
Update - A. Bowen |
|
X |
Alvin
Personnel Issues - D. Foster |
|
XI |
2006
NDSF Schedule and NDSF requests for 2007 (1.8 Mb) - E. Caporelli |
|
XII |
NDSF
Requests for 2007 ad Beyond - A. DeSilva |
|
XIII |
NDSF
Data and Archive Report - M. Tivey |
|
XIV |
Update
from NDSF Data Manager (3.6 Mb) - V. Ferrini |
|
XV |
Hybrid
ROV Report (32 Mb) - A. Bowen |
|
XVI |
AUV Status - Sentry Report (2.2 Mb) - B. Walden Movie Clips:
|
|
XVII |
|
|
XVIII |
ORION
Report (17.52 Mb) - R. Detrick |
|
XIX |
ROPOS
Report - D. Kelley |
|
XX |
Replacement
HOV Update (1.4 Mb) - R. Brown |
|
XXI |
Subcommittee
Report on HOV Safety Standards Project (1.4 Mb) - C. Young |
|
XXII |
NDSF
Navigation Upgrade Status - J. Howland |
|
XXIII |
|
|
XXIV |
Ocean
Exploration Education and Outreach Programs (1.7 Mb) - C. Martinez |
|
XXV |
Meeting
Minutes
Day One: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - Carriage
House
Introductory Remarks,
Meeting Logistics, and Introductions – Deb Kelley, Deep Submergence
Science Committee (DESSC) Chair, called the meeting to order at 0830 on
Wednesday, May 24, 2006. The meeting
was held at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Carriage House. The agenda for the meeting is included as Appendix
I. The items of the agenda are
reported in the order addressed.
Meeting participants introduced themselves. The list of attendees is included as Appendix II.
Accept minutes – Hedy Edmonds indicated
that she had a few corrections and would provide them to Annette DeSilva. The minutes of the December 2005 DESSC Meeting were approved
upon incorporation of the corrections.
NSF - Dolly Dieter provided the NSF report. Her slides are included as Appendix III. Dolly reported administrative personnel
changes. Bruce Malfait, MGS Section
Head has retired. Dr. Julie Morris is
now on board as the new Division Director.
The projected timeline for construction and funding of the Alaska
Region Research Vessel (ARRV), the Regional Class ships, R/V Langseth,
and the replacement HOV were presented.
The ARRV is in the MRE account and funding is expected in FY07. If all goes on schedule, the ship would be
ready for service in 2010. The Regional
Class acquisition process of three ships has begun. In April 2006 two design competition contracts were selected. It is a one-year design competition. Operator solicitation is expected in September
2006. The R/V Langseth is in the
shipyard for conversion modifications and will have a 3-D seismic
capability. UNOLS has established a
science oversight committee for the facility that will be modeled after DESSC. It is expected to be ready for service in
2007. The Replacement HOV is in the 3rd
year of a design/build process and should be complete in 2010.
In other activities, Dolly reported that:
•
The
UNOLS Office Cooperative Agreement was renewed for another 3 years.
•
UNOLS
Wire Pool news:
o
Testing
is being conducted to determine the wire specs and if the manufacturers are
meeting them
o
There
is a need to start looking at the next generation wire
•
Load
Handling systems – Matt Hawkins (UDel) headed a symposium to look at handling
systems. The R/V Sharp is
getting a new Caley handling system.
•
NSF
has renewed its contract with JMS for ship inspections. They should restart in June. Operators will be asked to use the web-based
ship condition form
•
SSSE
Group purchases – NSF is supporting group purchases:
o
Gets
standard equipment across the fleet
o
Cost
saving in buying in quantity
Lastly, the Federal Oceanographic Facilities Committee (FOFC) has
been finalizing their Fleet Renewal Plan and hopes to have it published by the
end of this year.
NOAA - Barbara Moore (NOAA) reported that the Ocean Exploration (OE)
program and the National Undersea Research Program (NURP) are merging to form
one organization. There is an increased
emphasis on technology development. The
program is under construction and will be involving outside partners. This was an action that was planned some
time ago, but is finally getting underway.
In the FY06, the NURP program budget was hard hit, as well as
OE. OE was only allowed to fund a
portion of their planned work. The NURP
Alvin program was not funded. Of
the six NURP centers, only Hawaii and Mississippi was fully funded. The West Coast center was partially funded.
In the East:
•
The
Caribbean is closing as a NURP center.
•
Connecticut
and Rutgers have no operations, but are preserving personnel
•
North
Carolina will remain open, maintain equipment, but reduce personnel.
NURP/OE is restructuring to meet the budget of President’s
request. The request restores some
funds to OE, but is lower than FY05.
Despite these significant reductions, NOAA supported the Alvin
cruise in the Gulf of Mexico (May 2006) and is also able to support their
portion of the Alvin overhaul.
Question: After the merge,
how will grants be administered? Barbara
- It is not clear yet, but it will be more streamlined.
UNOLS - Peter Wiebe, UNOLS Chair, provided the report
for UNOLS. His slides are included as Appendix
IV.
He began by reporting on
ship utilization and ship time for 2006 and beyond. In 2006 there was a sharp decline in funded ship days as
a result of budget constraints. The
scheduled ship time in 2006 is not at the optimal level. The worse case is with the intermediates
ships. For 2007, the preliminary
Letters of Intent show double and triple bookings with pending work. It looks even bleaker than 2006
In
2005, Larry Clark asked for advise from UNOLS on how to deal with the budget
shortfall. In
March 2006, the Council
formed a subcommittee to prepare guidelines that would be used by the Council
to make recommendations regarding ship lay-ups or retirements from the
Fleet. Peter reviewed the charge to the
committee, the Committee’s considerations, and their recommendations.
Peter reported on Fleet Renewal efforts. In the Spring 2006, the Navy formed a Naval Research Advisory Committee (NRAC) to provide recommendations regarding Navy’s role in acquisition of the Ocean Class.
There
is a lot of competition for Navy funds and UNOLS is not a high priority. The NRAC is expected to provide their
recommendations soon.
At
the time of this DESSC meeting, the UNOLS SCOAR committee is meeting. It is a joint meeting of the UNOLS
Scientific Committee for Oceanographic Aircraft Research (SCOAR) and the
Interagency Coordinating Committee for Airborne Geosciences Research and
Applications (ICCAGRA). Their meeting
will be immediately followed on May 24-25, 2006 by the first ever Airborne
Ocean Science Conference. The conference will include posters and presentations
on the use of aircraft in marine science research field programs.
A
new UNOLS new standing committee, the Marcus Langseth Science Oversight
Committee (MLSOC), was formed in October 2005 and Steven Holbrook,
U of Wyoming, is the Chair. They will
hold their first meeting on 31 May and
1 June at the Shelburne Nova Scotia shipyard.
The 2006 UNOLS Annual Meeting will be held on Friday, October 6, 2006 at NSF.
The keynote speaker will be
Former California Congressman and White House Chief of Staff,
The Honorable
Leon E. Panetta.
Questions:
Bob Detrick stated that CORE sent a
message that the NRAC would not report until the summer. He asked if this would hold up the FOFC and
FIC plans. Reply – No, both plans will
continue to move forward.
Deb Kelley asked what is the
prospect of the mid-life refits for the Global ships? Dolly replied that we won’t see mid-life refits like those for
carried out for Knorr and Melville, but the Navy would like to
provide funds for upgrades. At the NRAC
hearings, there were strong pleas for continued support of UNOLS.
National Facility Operators Report – Bob Detrick (WHOI) began the National
Facilities Operator’s Report and introduced Rick Chandler.
NDSF Vehicle
Operations Summary –
Rich Chandler reviewed the Alvin and ROV operations in 2006. His viewgraphs are included in Appendix
V. The Alvin overhaul was completed in mid-April. It is carrying out its first cruise of the
year in the Gulf of Mexico. Jason2
has completed two cruises at the time of this meeting.
NDSF Support
Ships - Liz Caporelli
reported that a Jason2 test on Kilo Moana is planned in
November. There is a Jason2
cruise scheduled on Ron Brown next year in the Gulf of Mexico. There are some Dynamic Positioning concerns
that they will be looking into.
NDSF Science
User Report – Bill
Chadwick provided a report on his recent Ocean Exploration cruise aboard R/V
Melville using Jason II.
Cruise highlights as well as comments regarding Jason2 operations
were provided. Bill’s report is
included as Appendix VI.
During the cruise,
they made dives at nine different active volcanoes in the Western Pacific. The first volcano visited was NW Rota. In 2003 CTD surveys of the ARC were conducted. The following year there were ROPOS
dives at the site. In the fall 2005,
Japanese dives were conducted. These
were followed in 2006 by Jason2 dives.
It is still erupting. Six dives
were made at this site. Bill showed
video footage from the site. A portable
hydrophone shows when vent shuts down and starts up.
The Daikoku
volcano was also visited. On the flank
they found molten sulfur. There were
lots of animals (flat fish).
At the Nikko
volcano, there was incredible biomass and they again saw molten sulfur along
with CO2 bubbles. At the end
of the dive, the vehicle was heavier than when it began, by about 60 lbs. Jason2 had broken through the
crust. The fluid sampler got most of
the damage.
Bill continued
with a report on Jason2 operations.
The vehicle and crew were very capable.
There was also room for improvement.
The LBL navigation is very archaic and needs to be replaced as soon as
possible. It is a risk to science operations.
The cameras worked, but not optimally.
The suction sampler worked about half the time. The motor broke down.
Discussion followed:
·
Bob Detrick – Was there evidence
that the site was erupting? Bill – They didn’t know for sure if it was still erupting. It has been erupting since 2004. They did more dives at that site than originally
planned and saw two species of shrimp, one of them thought to be new. They saw dead mid-water animals drop to the floor, and then the
shrimp ate the dead animals. The volcanoes
seem to be poisoning the mid-water animals.
·
Maurice Tivey – Requested comment
on the navigation system. Bill – They ended up using the Doppler most of the time. They were very impressed with the Doppler and
closed loop system.
·
Andy Bowen – If additional work
is planned in the volcanic areas, there are improvements that can be made
and should be considered for the vehicles to work optimally.
Bill - Adding sound to the video would be useful.
·
Deb Kelley
– There is a lot of productivity at the shallow volcanoes (Iceland for
example).
Upgrades
to National Deep Submergence Facility
Atlantis
Maintenance Period Updates
- Al Suchy provided the Atlantis maintenance period update. The list of maintenance items is included in
Appendix VII. Overhaul of
starboard propulsion motor was not planned.
Overhaul of the bow thrusters was a big effort. Renewal of the hydro lab deck was expensive
and also a big effort. They did some
work on the drains, but more required in future.
A
new DP system is planned for Atlantis and it will be installed in stages.
It will be like the system on Knorr in 2004. In 2007 they have a 6-week period where the system can be
installed.
Discussion
followed:
Andy
Bowen – Based on the overhaul of the bow thruster, will past problems be
avoided? Al - With regard to the DP,
training is important and this is planned.
Bearing failure and shafting of the thruster was due to a lack of
lubrication of the bearing in thruster.
It was difficult to find where it was to be lubed. Also one of the anti-torque fittings had
been installed incorrectly, putting wear on the good one. They have corrected the fitting. As for training, for Knorr they
attended training by Kongsberg. From
the start, Atlantis will have 3 trained people. Then training will be put into the annual
budget. They will use Kongsberg.
Andy
Bowen – Is there any formal mechanism for WHOI to communicate with NOAA Corp
regarding the Ron Brown DP system.
Al – When Brown visited WHOI last year, they discussed the DP and
other systems. They can follow up on
these things. Catalina Martinez
commented that the DP system problems on Brown occurred at Lost
City. They wrote the problem up in
detail and it is being addressed. The
ship’s DP and GPS need to be upgraded.
Erroneous GPS data feeds in, resulting in the ship cruise off in the wrong
direction. The system is working a bit
better, but they would not want to go back to an area like Lost City until they
feel more secure with the system.
Peter
Wiebe remarked that on his recent Ron Brown cruise, the main lab was ice
cold making it very difficult to work in.
Alvin
Overhaul Report - Dudley
Foster reported on the Alvin overhaul.
The list of overhaul items is included in Appendix VIII. The overhaul was completed on budget and on
schedule. During the overhaul hull
inspection, they found porosity in the welds and some cracks. Most were surface cracks. These could be ground out, but is an
expensive process. Dudley thanked John
Freitag for diverting funds to get this repaired. The Navy was very responsive to the timing issues. They imposed a new 2-year inspection to some
of these areas. They can reassess the
areas that are accessible (no vehicle stripping required).
Dudley
reported that the Navy’s certification process is becoming more detailed. They always find more issues. They finally completed the overhaul on
schedule. Three mornings a week, the
whole crew met and reviewed progress.
Sea trials were conducted as planned. There was a new requirement for
inclining.
Deb
Kelley asked why there have been changes with the certification. Dudley – The changes are probably mostly due
to personnel changes.
Dolly
stated that because this was such an expensive overhaul, NSF chipped in. The hull work alone cost $250k to
$500K. This is the item that NSF
chipped in on.
A
functional audit of Alvin was also conducted. Al Suchy reported that the functional audit was also conducted on
the handling system.
Barrie
stated that the certification took up 100% of Dudley’s time with paperwork.
ROV
Update - Andy Bowen
provided the ROV update. His
presentation is included as Appendix IX. He discussed the multi-chamber suction
sampler, Medea, and Jason2 operations at the Ring of Fire site.
The final version of the multi-chamber suction sampler should be
ready in the fall for Alvin. The Medea vehicle has been upgraded and can provide
stand-alone operation when required.
If Jason2 operations
are going to continue in active volcanic sites, such as Ring of Fire, there
should be time to consider the impact on equipment. There are a variety of interesting technology challenges that
should be considered for continued work in these areas.
Alvin Personnel Issues - Deb Kelley opened a discussion on Alvin personnel issues, noting the
shortage of pilots. Many of the pilots
are new and have come on during the overhaul.
Dudley Foster reported on the status of pilot employment (see Appendix
X). Anthony Berry has left and
Tony Tarantino left after the overhaul.
There are now four pilots: Pat
Hickey and Bruce Strickott are senior pilots, and Eppard and Spear are
new. They have hired three Electronic
Technicians and all gained experience working during the overhaul. The 2007 ship schedule is light and will
pose employment challenges for the group.
In 2007 there will be about 6 months of non-Alvin cruises. There may be opportunities for some of the
existing people. For new hires, it is
difficult to provide job security when the schedule is so weak.
Discussion
Followed:
Jeff Karson – Are
there training programs that the pilots can take advantage during the slow
periods. Dudley – Dolly encourages and
supports training. Deb Kelley remarked
that when she was on a cruise, she got feedback that they would like training
on the cameras.
Jeff Karson stated
that he found that the pilots who get involved in the science are very
productive. Science training sessions
for pilots would be beneficial.
Deb commented that
dives with new pilots have to be planned very differently. They are less optimal in terms of
accomplishing science.
Dudley – The
bottom line is that they lose people because they don’t want to go to sea as
much. This has been a problem
forever. They are staying on the job
longer than the national average.
Bill Chadwick
remarked that it seems that the Jason
group has less of a problem with pilot retention than Alvin. Dudley – They have a
smaller core crew and they have supplemental programs that can keep people busy
between cruises. There are several
factors, including less time at sea.
Deb raised the
issue of what would happen if Pat Hickey were unable to work for a lengthy
period.
Question - Are
exit interviews conducted when pilots leave?
Barrie Walden replied that they used to conduct interviews and found
that the reasons varied significantly.
Peter Wiebe asked
if all of the pilots for the various research subs could be trained in a
standard way such that there would be pool of pilots. Dudley – They have looked into training facilities, but these are
expensive and often become obsolete quickly.
Barrie – This is a
problem that the NDSF operator has recognized and addresses. They have revised the pilot training program
and hope that it would provide the adequate amount of time for training. The training focuses mostly on safety.
Action Item –
DESSC will follow-up on this issue and formulate a recommendation regarding
science training for pilots.
An Alvin ex-pilot was present and commented
that he left the group to do more design and engineering. This is why he left Alvin for the Jason
group. If the pilots are provided with more
design/engineering activities, they might want to stay on longer. Dudley – The problem is that this may not be
effective. When the pilot goes back to
sea while working on an engineering project the engineering project goes on
hold for a couple of months.
Deep
Submergence Scheduling and Related Issues:
2007 and Beyond – Liz Caporelli reviewed
2006 NDSF schedule and tentative schedules for 2007 and beyond. Her slides are included as Appendix
XI. In 2006, days were added to
support the NEPR eruption event. The
2006 Alvin schedule includes 264 operational days and includes
operations in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific. The cruise track was presented. The 2006 ROV schedule includes 148 operating
days with work at the Galapagos, the Western Pacific, and off Hawaii.
Ship scheduling for 2007 is still on-going and there are still
issues to resolve. Liz showed a map of
potential operational areas for 2007 work.
Funded and pending Alvin
operations totals 291 days will all work in the Pacific. The ROV operations total 160 days with work
in the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico.
In 2008 there are currently 17 ship time requests Alvin for the NDSF for a total of 118
days. There are seven ROV requests for
a total of 164 days. In 2009 and beyond
there are 12 ship time requests for the NDSF vehicles for a total of 127 days.
Review of
facility requests and identification of funded programs - Annette DeSilva continued
by presenting maps showing the areas where NDSF operations have been requested
in 2008 and beyond. These maps are
available in Appendix XII.
NDSF Data and Archives Report - Maurice Tivey provided the archives report. His slides are included in Appendix XIII. There were 150 external requests for visuals and deep
submergence information through May 2006.
The total income received for the first half of FY2006 is $10, 384.18.
Update from
NDSF Data Manager - Vicky Ferrini, the NDSF Data manager provided an update. Her slides are included as Appendix XIV. Her report covered:
•
Navigation
•
Virtual
Van/Framegrabber
•
Video
•
Bathymetric
sonars
•
Available
software
•
Documentation
•
Future
directions
For navigation, the Sonic High Accuracy
Ranging and Positioning System (SHARPS) will be used in lieu of Jason2’s LBL fixes. Planned upgrades for the Jason2 virtual van and framegrabber were
reviewed. Examples of the photo mosaic
images were displayed. Grid
Rectification has been created to combine Alvin
Imagenex data from multiple dives into high-resolution composite maps. It can be used with other data. A list of resource documentation that is
available or being drafted was provided.
Future directions include continued development of existing software
tools.
Discussion followed:
Question - Can a fairly computer illiterate
science party handle this? Vicky- they
are working to make it easy to use.
Deb Kelley asked if the Chief Scientist would
go to the SSSG to find out if the renavigation data is good. Vicky explained that the data would be sent
to her for scripts processing and checks.
If it is good, it would automatically go into the framegrabber. If it is bad, Vicky will have the data and
she will deal with it. Deb expressed
concern that the pilots would be too far out of the loop. If there is a problem, they wouldn’t know
how to deal with it.
Jeff Karson asked about the status of
existing data? Vicky – They need to
address the historic data.
Peter Wiebe – How do you know if the
renavigation data is good? Vicki – The
renav data has to fall between the Doppler and the LBL plots. They would also like to have an indicator in
the virtual van to let you know if you have lost navigation.
HROV Status
Report - Andy
Bowen reported on the status of the Hybrid ROV. His slides are included as Appendix XV. The project highlights are listed in the
Appendix. The micro fiber tether
canister/brake is completed and tested using ABE and the WHOI pressure test
facility. Deep fiber trials
(5000-6000m) are planned at the end of May on R/V Oceanus.
The
slides explain what an HROV is and its mode of operation. Andy provided a summary of the vehicle
mission profiles and the science capabilities.
They have been looking at power use and want to make sure that there
will be sufficient battery capability for the missions. Mission planning is critical. If you deviate from the plan, the
consequences can be severe. The various
components of the vehicle system were reviewed. The manipulator will be hydraulically driven and will be
delivered in a couple weeks. Lithium
Ion batteries will be used. There is a
contest underway to name the HROV. The
list of potential names was reviewed.
At
sea support for the HROV is estimated as four people.
AUV Status - Barrie Walden provided a report on the Sentry Sea
Trials conducted in Bermuda in May 2006.
His slides are included as Appendix XVI. ABE has been very successful, but is
expensive and must be supported by Dana Yoerger and Al Bradley. The real goal is to go to sea with a support
group that does not rely on PhDs. During the Sentry sea trials five
dives were carried out: 500 m (3) and
2600 m (2). This was the first time the
vehicle was tested without a line attached.
The AUV can descend rapidly.
They observed the vehicles speed of ascent and descent. Mission upload and execution was
observed. The maximum horizontal speed
is 2.5 knots, descent speed = 42 m/min, and ascent speed = 50 m/min. Photos of the trials were presented.
The vehicle’s ability to follow
directions was good. The vehicle is
very stable. Barrie showed a few video
clips of the launch and recovery exercises.
These are included as Appendix XVI.
Recovery is by tag lines.
The complexity of the vehicle requires
that Dana program the vehicle. They
don’t want to require an individual with the qualifications like Dana for each
cruise. This is the biggest hurdle.
Question - What needs to be done to make
the vehicle fully operational? Barrie -
One big thing is to outfit the vehicle with science equipment. Then they need to demonstrate that it can
carry out these science programs. They
are very close to having this completed.
The plan would be to send Sentry out with ABE. They would try to use Sentry first,
but have ABE as a backup.
Another item is that maintenance access is needed. Right now these do not exist.
Maurice Tivey – What is the required
recharge time? Reply – About 6 hours
for about 150 km. Once they go to
lithium acid batteries, they should be able to triple the range. The system can be shipped in a 20-ft
container. It uses the ship crane. The vehicle has been used from WHOI’s small
boat Tioga.
Operational support at sea is estimated
at three people.
Establishing Criteria for bringing New
Assets into the NDSF including day rate considerations - Deb Kelley
reported that the DESSC has drafted criteria for bringing new assets into the
NDSF. The
draft has been circulated for a number of iterations. The agencies have also seen it.
It will be finalized prior to the summer Council meeting.
Mid-Afternoon Break
North East Pacific Rise (NEPR) Event – Dan Fornari reported on his cruise to the
North East Pacific Rise (NEPR) aboard R/V New Horizon to observe the
recent eruption site. Dan showed some
of the images he collected, including a new flow. They didn’t see any OBS’s and they are probably buried. A temperature probe was found still inserted
and it is hopeful that some of the instrumented vents were able to continue to
collect data. None of the biomarkers
were found. The trough at 9.54 is
narrower and shallower. Jim Cowen was
Chief Scientist on the cruise. New
Horizon was great support ship.
AUV Users Conference on Science Applications
(AUV SA) – June 6-7, WHOI -
Maurice Tivey reported that an AUV users conference will be held on June
6-7. Details are included in Appendix
XVII. It is a conference to promote a dialog between AUV developers, engineers,
and science users. Major AUV operators
that will participate include CC industry, FAU, Autosub, Sentry, MBARI,
etc. The conference was organized
quickly. There are 70 to 80
participants registered.
RIDGE2000 - Deb Kelley reported that RIDGE 2K’s recent
activities have included mobilizing event response cruises to NEPR.
The RIDGE lectureship program is very healthy. DESSC will suggest having pilots as lecturers.
Dan Fornari pointed out the potential of the French ship being at
EPR next year. We will want to avoid conflicts with other operations.
Ocean Observatories - Bob Detrick provided a report on the Ocean Observatories
Initiative (OOI) and ORION. His slides
are included as Appendix XVIII. In
FY2007, OOI was included for the first time in the President’s budget. If funded, operations would begin in 2011 or
2012. There will be needs for both
regional and global observatories. The
funds required for Operation and Maintenance (O&M) are not included in the
MRE budget. O&M funds would come
out of presumed budget growth at NSF.
Bob showed a breakdown of OOI budget.
Kendra Daly is on board as the full time ORION Program Director.
The OOI Conceptual Network Design is based on input from the
Request for Assistance (RFA) and previous workshops. This was presented at the March 2006 workshop. The documents are available on the ORION
website. About 50 Principal
Investigators responded to the RFA.
About 300 participants attended the March workshop. The challenge has been to match the
community ideas to the budget.
The slides include a world map showing the observatory sites. There are a number of high latitude sites.
The purple dots on the map represent spar buoys.
The Regional Cabled Observatory (RCO), Neptune, includes two
components – Canada and US.
On April 26-27 in Seattle, there was a meeting on OOI Operations
and Maintenance. Some issues that have
arose and need to be addressed included:
•
Engineers
developing the technical specifications for OOI infrastructure should be
talking more with vehicle operators in the academic community as well as
industry. They haven’t communicated
much yet.
•
DESSC
should work with the ORION Office and funding agencies to define the future
role of NDSF in OOI (installation, O&M, science support)
•
DESSC
should encourage the NDSF operator to ensure present and future systems
actively incorporate OOI related capabilities and technologies
•
DESSC
should have a formal liaison from the ORION program
It has been suggested that there be a small workshop where users,
operators, and engineers can meet.
DESSC should come up with a charge for the workshop.
ROV facility estimates for Neptune call for about 276 ROV days
over 3 years for installation beginning in about 2012/2013. These costs are included in the MREFC. O&M is estimated at 158 ROV days a
year. This includes science. The cost for O&M is estimated at
$50M. This about ¾ the cost for
operating the entire academic fleet.
The ROVs would be needed during the weather window of the Neptune
operating area.
Jeff Karson commented that there is a real mismatch. Do we just hope the budgets will increase,
or do we mobilize the community to rally for support? Does DESSC want a role in OOI or do they want to stay with
research and exploration?
Annette asked how ROV facility needs would be met during the
non-weather window periods at
NEPTUNE? Bob Detrick
replied that it depends how much the equipment is valued. Andy Bowen added that it also depends how
much you want to invest up front to improve reliability.
ROPOS - Deb Kelley reported on the upgraded ROPOS vehicle. The new lift system allows vehicle operations
in Sea State 6. If the handling systems
on UNOLS ships can be moved mid-ship it would improve the Sea State
capability. Deb’s slides are included
in Appendix XIX.
NURP & Ocean Exploration - Catalina Martinez reported that NOAA’s
acquisition of the ROV has stalled in their contracts office. The new OE support ship is scheduled to be
in operations by 2008, but it might be delayed. They are working on determining how to staff and schedule the
ship.
Day Two: Thursday,
May 25, 2006 - Clark Building, 5th
Floor, Room 509
Day 2 -Opening Comments - Deb Kelley opened Day 2 of the meeting and reviewed the actions
from the previous day meeting and executive session.
Action items:
1)
DESSC
will recommend a short science course for Alvin/ROV pilots – Hawaii or
Iceland
2)
DESSC
will recommend that an Alvin/ROV pilot be considered for the RIDGE
lectureship program
3)
DESSC
will carry out NDSF user debriefs:
a.
Mike
Tryon – Alvin
b.
Bill
Chadwick – Jason
c.
Hedy
– ABE
The debriefs would include the PI, DESSC member, Chris German (NDSF Chief Scientist), and an agency representative.
4)
DESSC
will make recommendations regarding ROV/AUV/Alvin pilot career
advancement and training.
5) Criteria for added Assets to the NDSF and ABE/Sentry: DESSC will finalized the criteria document and recommend that ABE/Sentry be added to the NDSF. If ABE/Sentry is added to the NDSF, the UNOLS ship time request form should be revised to include the AUV. DESSC will send the recommendation to the UNOLS Council in June so that if approved, the vehicle could be requested in the NSF August proposal deadline. Once the Council endorses DESSC recommendation, the document would be forwarded to the Agencies.
6) DESSC asked for clarification on the last bullet of the ABE/Sentry proposal regarding the data products. It is unclear what data product will be provided. WHOI should better define the data products delivered.
7) Deb will send an email to Bob Detrick requesting an information packet for ABE/Sentry that can be provided to the UNOLS Council.
8) DESSC is concerned about the current arrangement to have Vicky Ferrini monitor the navigation data quality from shore. This doesn’t seem to be an optimal arragnement. Navigation data issues should be dealt with on the ship and assigned to the SSSG. DESSC recommends that the NDSF operator take this up for consideration.
The future of the DSL-120A system was discussed. Dolly indicated
that they would have to deal with any DSL requests that are currently in the
system. She will talk to Sandy Shor
about these. The DSL-120A system might
be sent to Hawaii for future operations and support.
Replacement HOV Update - Bob Brown provided a report on the
status of the Replacement HOV (RHOV) design/build project. His slides are included as Appendix XX. He began be reviewing the milestone history
and risk management phased approach.
Next he reported on the syntactic foam testing and development effort. A 32 lb/ft3 foam density has been developed
and would be acceptable, but 30 lb/ft3 is desired. An additional manufacturer is starting R&D to produce a 30
lb/ft3 foam. The foam will be needed by
2008. It takes about one year to
make. WHOI will need to know the
density, so that they can design to it.
WHOI will have to make their decision by the end of the summer 2006.
Various
batteries have been evaluated. They are
looking into alternative solutions to select ABS rules, such as for oxygen
storage solutions and the number of external containers.
The
Sea Cliff finite element analysis
(FEA) model and preliminary analysis has been completed. This is part of the material study required
since they are building the vehicle out of slightly different titanium than Sea Cliff. The Sea Cliff never had
an FEA and was not destructive tested.
They will compare the FEA to the stress analysis. If WHOI built to ABS specs, the hull
thickness would have to be very thick.
ABS realizes this, so they agreed that if WHOI uses the Navy methodology
used for Sea Cliff, it would be
acceptable. Now WHOI is going back and
developing the methodology (since it was never done for Sea Cliff).
WHOI
plans to purchase the Titanium early in order to lock in a reasonable
price. Once the order is placed it
would take about 8 months for delivery.
SWRI
is looking at various viewport options.
WHOI has asked them to look at having all of the viewports
7-inches. The outboard ports are
currently the same as Alvin – 5 inches.
These windows are close to the sphere seam, and they are checking to see
if this is an issue. There are five
viewports in the design.
The
vehicle design solicitation is expected to be released in the fall. Once awarded, the preliminary design of the
vehicle should be completed by fall 2007.
This would coincide with the personnel sphere forging.
The
schedule for the RHOV construction indicates that the vehicle would be ready
for science sea trials in late 2009.
Science Sensors for
Replacement HOV –
Annette DeSilva presented the draft on-line survey for science sensors. It was
suggested that buttons be added that would link to additional information about
the sensor. It was also suggested to
add the deadline of when the response is needed, and
a listing of science outfitting of tools and samplers.
Establishing Safety
Standards for the use of Human Occupied Vehicles - Craig Young provided a report on the
subcommittee’s efforts to establish safety standards for HOVs. His report is included as Appendix
XXI.
Discussion followed. Peter Wiebe suggested that document address
HOV operations in areas where there are moorings and other obstacles. Jeff Karson asked if environmental features
would be considered, such as working in hot vent areas.
Status
of NDSF Navigation Upgrade
- Jon Howland reported on the status of the NDSF navigation upgrades. His slides are included as Appendix XXII. He began by explaining that commercial solutions
were not available. They chose to base
the system on the Digital Ranger. It is
used by NAVOCEANO and every Remus user.
The likely configuration will be a small box in the van and a small
(shoebox) located at the ship’s transducer (prototype). The plan is to build the hardware during the
gap before the next Jason cruise period. The Benthos 455 is becoming increasingly difficult. The money that they have is not enough to
get everything done. The system can be
generalized to other NDSF vehicles, but will require further
funding/development.
In summary, they have chosen and purchased the ASP hardware. They expect to have test results by end of
the year. If acceptable, moving to the
full operational status will be a rapid process. The system will be for Jason initially, but can work in
parallel to make it available for Alvin.
Peter Wiebe inquired about the Benthos 455 status. Jon replied that there are only 3 or 4
Benthos 455 systems in the world.
Bill Chadwick asked why the development has taken so long? Barrie replied that they started dealing
with this issue about five years ago, but they have gone down the road only to
find that it didn’t work. They have bought
the hardware, but in testing found that it didn’t work. They haven’t ignored the problem.
Winter
Meeting Strategies - Deb introduced the topic and explained that we were
supposed to be at the Benthic Ecology meeting last year, but they were out of
the country. Various meeting options
are included in Appendix XXIII.
DESSC members expressed strong concern that we will lose continuity if
we move the meeting from the fall AGU meeting.
The DESSC meeting at the fall AGU is well attended.
It was suggested that if DESSC was to be at the Benthic Ecology
meeting, a special session during the meeting should also be considered. There was some discussion as to if there
should be a special session at the fall AGU Fall Meeting. Dolly commented that if there is a special
session it cannot have a cost associated it.
There are two options for biology meeting:
·
2007
Benthic Ecology Meeting - Atlanta
or Savannah -- dates TBA
·
Western
Society of Naturalists - November 9-12, 2006.
Redmond, WA.
It was suggested that DESSC ask Phil Taylor (NSF) if he has a
preference. The timing of the WSN November
meeting would be better.
Ocean Exploration - Catalina Martinez provided a report on Ocean Exploration. Her slides are included as Appendix
XXIII. We need to do as much as
possible to inform the public about the oceans. 10% of the funds for research programs must go to education. OE has established an outreach and much of
the 10% funds go toward web support.
They include real-time expedition coverage. These include daily cruise logs, videos, and images. Sometimes they interact with classrooms and
offer curriculums.
Catalina explained that they target school districts (minorities)
also if there is an expedition in a particular area they target those. The teachers get stipends to attend the
training.
Catalina reviewed the FY06 efforts.
RIDGE 2K - Deb Kelley suggested that we have Susanne Carbotte or Vicki
Ferrini present on the RIDGE 2K database.
DESSC
Membership – The DESSC
nominated Marsh Youngbluth to the Committee. The nomination will be sent to Peter Wiebe
for endorsement.
There are quite a few DESSC members with terms ending in
2007. It was suggested that staggering
these term lengths be considered.
Annette and Deb will follow-up on this and present at the next meeting.
Marine Protection
Act Issues – Barbara Moore reported that there is an
international movement to protect the fragile genetic resources. Some of the fragile ecosystems are at the
vent sites. Some feel that the biggest
threat is by the scientists. The
community needs to be educated on this issue.
Review Meeting
Action Items – Deb Kelley reviewed the meeting action
items that were reported at the start of Day 2.
1200 DESSC
Meeting Adjourned