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6
Ocean Research Technologies
Dramatic advances in our ability to explore the deep sea are attribut-
able to research and development done by academic and private organiza-
tions. High-quality, long-term, multinational research programs have greatly
increased our understanding of the processes that govern our planet. The
Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP),
and the Global Ocean Observing System use tools, technology, and human
resources developed and provided by a variety of nations. A new explora-
tion effort should use existing equipment and technology whenever possible,
but it will require new methods and systems that will adjust and improve to
meet emerging needs. A global ocean exploration system should include
observations from existing satellites, moored open-ocean sensors, data
voluntarily contributed from various ships, and the global sea level network,
as well as other observations that are not yet defined or routinely collected
(Figure 6.11. Resources should be available for the development of innova-
tive tools to support selected exploration voyages or investigations. The
infrastructure for an ocean exploration program must provide for postcruise
sample and data analysis and interpretation, rapid dissemination of results,
and data management that will promote effective integration and analysis of
multidisciplinary data sets.
The science and technology results from several continuing large-scale
research programs the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere program,
the Ridge Interdisciplinary Global Experiment, and JGOFS provide impor-
tant information and experience that can be applied when designing opera-
tional ocean exploration system that is effective, affordable, and consistent
with our knowledge of the scales of ocean biology, chemistry, and physics
(National Research Council, 19931.
Recommendation: An ocean exploration program should seek to access
and encourage new developments in ocean technology.
97
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OCR for page 99
OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
OCEAN TECHNOLOGY
This section briefly reviews the considerable technology available to
the ocean exploration program. It also discusses the need for new tech-
nology in an ocean exploration program.
Platforms
Oceanographic research is conducted from a variety of platforms. Ships
are the most recognizable, but there are many other types of research
platforms: stationary observation systems (moorings and bottom-supported
platforms), mobile observation systems (submersibles, remotely operated
vehicles tROVsi, autonomous underwater vehicles [AUVsi, drifters, gliders),
and satellites with remote-sensing capabilities. An ocean exploration pro-
gram that includes archaeology will further diversify the platforms needed.
Ships
Virtually all oceanographic research is conducted from vessels that are
owned by agencies or private organizations within individual nations; there
are no truly international research vessels, with the possible exception of
the vessels used by ODP and the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP).
Many nations maintain research vessels of various sizes that operate in most
of the world's oceans, and the global research fleet consists of nearly 500
vessels from 53 nations (Appendix E). The information presented here was
gathered through a voluntary database, and the current condition of the
vessels is not known. Commercial vessels are sometimes used, for example,
to take advantage of their particular capabilities or for short-term charters.
The size of the global oceanographic research fleet suggests great potential
for international cooperation.
With i n the U n ited States, the Academ ic Research Fleet provides essen-
tial support to basic research in oceanography. For more than 40 years, the
National Science Foundation (NSF) and other federal agencies have worked
cooperatively with universities and academic research institutions to provide
the broadest possible access to the sea for the nation's oceanographic
research community. Ship-based research operations are coordinated by
the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), an
excellent model for managing a research fleet (National Science Founda-
tion, 19991. UNOLS is a consortium of 57 institutions, 20 of which currently
operate 28 ships. UNOLS ensures communitywide ship access, coopera-
99
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100
EXPLORATION OF THE SEAS
tive ship scheduling, standards for operations and safety, and uniform
funding and cost-accounting procedures. The ships are privately, state, or
federally owned and are operated by academic institutions. The fleet
includes large ships for oceanwide investigations, intermediate-sized ships
for regional investigations, small ships for coastal and estuarine work, ships
specifically designed for unique environments, and platforms with special
capabilities such as the submersible Alvin and the Floating Instrument
Platform. NSF provides the majority of support for fleet operation, mainte-
nance, and upgrades, while the U.S. Navv has historicaliv Provided most of
the larger ships.
Other federal agencies also operate research ships. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates 15 ships to
support its oceanographic research program (National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration, 2003c). The Oceanographer of the Navy maintains
a fleet of ships that operate around the world, although their activities are
limited to operational mapping and sampling in areas of specific interest to
the Navy.
ODP and the new IODP control drill ships. ODP supports the riserless
drill ship, the Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling
(IOIDES) Resolution, through a program administered by the Joint Oceano-
graphic Institutions, Inc. Texas A&M University receives much of the
funding to operate JOIDES Resolution, administer field research, provide
technical and scientific services, assist with technology development and
report production, develop and administer the program's database, and
serve as a repository for the recovered cores. IODP is scheduled to begin in
October 2003 with the decommissioning of the JOIDES Resolution. The
United States will supply a riserless drill ship, and the Japanese are con-
structing a risers drill ship, the Chikyu. The consortium of European coun-
tries may be responsible for managing other types of platforms, such as
geotechnical drill ships, jack-up rigs, and polar drilling platforms.
, ,-
Submersibles
The most familiar oceanographic tools to the general public are
submersibles, which provide oceanographic researchers with a unique and
JA drilling riser is a pipe that connects a drilling rig on a drill ship to a seabed blow-out
preventer. Within the riser, a drill pipe is used to advance the hole. Drilling fluid is carried
down the inside of the drill pipe, and cuttings and drilling fluid are carried in the annular
spacing between the drill pipe and riser back to the rig on the vessel.
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
dynamic perspective of the ocean and its processes. Submersible tech-
nology allows human presence in much of the world's oceans, but, perhaps
even more promising to the oceanographic community, remotely operated
and autonomous underwater vehicle technology has advanced rapidly in
the past 20 years, making the systems more widely available and capable of
many more tasks than in the past. The current NSF funding structure for
supporting such vessels for marine research does not encourage use of
commercially available ROVs nor encourage competition within the
oceanographic community. An international ocean exploration program
would be greatly enhanced if commercial assets could be accessed and
used by the scientific community.
Technology costs must be weighed against vehicle utility in choosing
which submersible to use. Submersible costs are driven in large part by the
depth capability of the vehicle. The costs for development of technologies
necessary for a submersible to withstand pressures of the deep ocean
increase nearly logarithmically below 6,500 m; one percent of the ocean
floor lies below that depth. Human occupied vehicles (HOVs) have the
additional substantial requirements for life support and complex safety
systems. As an example, the Jason 11 ROV cost an estimated $4 million to
construct, but Japan's full-ocean-depth ROV, now lost at sea, cost an esti-
mated $60 million.
Human Occupied Submersible Vehicles
Many significant discoveries during the past three decades of marine
research have resulted from observations and samples taken from HOVs
(Table 6.11. HOVs provided the first detailed view of the structure and
nature of volcanism along a midocean spreading ridge (e.g., Ballard and
Van Andel, 1977) and the first comprehensive maps of the variation in
composition of lavas within a ridge crest (e.g., Bryan and Moore, 19771.
HOVs have been used extensively for observing and sampling hydrothermal
vents and their associated exotic communities of organisms. HOVs also
have been used extensively as effective tools for public outreach, and they
have been the subject of broadcast and cable television programs.
In October 1999, the UNOLS Developing Submergence Science for the
Next Decade workshop (Developing Submergence Science for the Next
Decade, 1999) stressed the continued need for increased power and lift
capabilities of HOVs, tether-free maneuverability, and the continued human
presence provided by HOVs (Box 6.11. Although rapid progress is being
made in videography and photography to develop capabilities that match
101
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102
EXPLORATION OF THE SEAS
TABLE 6.1 Human Occupied Vehicles (HOV) for Scientific Research and Exploration
Maximum Operating
HOV Operator Depth (m)
Shinkai 6500 JAMSTEC, Japan 6,500
MIR I and 11 P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russia 6,000
Nautile IFREMER, France 6,000
Alvin National Deep Submergence Facility, 4,500
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, United States
Cyana IFREMER, France 3,000
Shinkai2000 JAMSTEC, Japan 2,000
Pisces IV HURL, United States 2,1 70
Pisces V HURL, United States 2,090
Johnson-Sea-Link I and 11 HBOI, United States 1,000
Deep Rover 1002 James Cameron 1,000
Deep Rover Nuytco Research Ltd., Canada 900
JAGO Max Planck Institute, Germany 400
Remora 2000 Comex, France 610
DeepWorker2000 Deep Ocean Expeditions 600
Delta Delta Oceanographics, United States 370
Clelia HBOI, United States 300
Thetis Greek National Centre of Marine Research 300
NOTE: JAMSTEC, Japan Marine Science and Technology Center; IFREMER, French Research Institute for Exploitation of
the Sea; HURL, Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory; HBOI, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.
those of the human eye, there will be a need for in situ human presence in
the sea for the predictable future. U.S. programs need to replace the 35-
year-old Alvin to continue oceanographic research. Planning is under way,
including a review by the National Academies, for an HOV that can go to
6,500 m, which would allow researchers to explore 99 percent of the ocean
floor in studies that require a human presence. Relatively inexpensive
HOVs of lesser depth capability can provide sufficient access to the ocean
floor for such things as shallow searches for shipwrecks at diving depths
(Figure 6.2), and research in coastal habitats, for example.
Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles
Over the past 10 years, the marine scientific community has begun to
use ROVs routinely to collect deep-sea data and samples. For instance, in
1995 the Magellan 725 ROV was used to locate, collect data on, and leave
a memorial plaque at the R/V Derbyshire, which sank in 1980 during a
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
103
Key Findings
The oceans remain a scientific frontier for the twenty-first century with broad societal
and academic relevance to issues such as the role of the oceans in global climate change
and the limits of life processes in extreme environments on Earth and other planets.
Dramatic advances in submergence vehicle technologies and instruments now provide
unprecedented access to the oceans and seafloor. Those technologies and vehicles will
foster a revolution in our ability to synoptically measure the ocean chemical, biological
and physical processes.
New mechanisms are required to improve scientific research access to all types of sub-
mergence vehicles and tools. They should be developed to address issues relating to
scheduling existing assets, conducting field work outside traditional operating areas,
and responding to time-sensitive processes at the seafloor or in the water column. The
broadest range of vehicle capabilities should be provided to U.S. investigators while
preserving the existing capabilities of the National Deep Submergence Facility.
Long-standing U.S. leadership in submergence science and technology is being chal-
lenged by other countries (France, Germany, Japan) that have greater funding for sub-
mergence science and vehicle facilities.
Key Recommendations
Accelerate development of AUVs.
Construct a new, state-of-the-art, deep-diving (>6,000 m), occupied submersible.
Plan for a new, robust deep-diving (>7,000 m) ROV.
Develop new sensors and tools.
Increase access to submergence vehicles and tools. This implies increased funding for
submergencefacilities, support and technologyto ensure the access,facilities infrastructure,
and technology required to meet the needs of U.S. deep-submergence science.
Critical Technology Needs
Design AUVs for a variety of applications (coastal, polar, event response) and with a
variety of interchangeable sensors. These could be used independently or as part of
underwater observatory systems.
Develop better manipulative capabilities; chemical, biological, and physical properties
sensors for submersibles and ROVs; and the ability to maintain in situ conditions during
experiments and sample recovery.
Improve imaging, both high-resolution digital video and still photographs.
Design new protocols and equipment to facilitate data telemetry to the surface and to
transfer data to and from seafloor sensors.
Improve seafloor mapping at various scales using ROV and tethered systems in a nested
survey approach.
Integrate in situ experiments to fully characterize the ocean chemical, physical, and
biological processes. The transfer of knowledge and instrument design from public and
private engineering groups to the broad oceanographic community will be crucial.
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104
EXPLORATION OF THE SEAS
FIGURE 6.2 The human occupied vehicle Carolyn visits a medieval shipwreck whose
cargo consisted of millstones (used with permission from Tufan Turanli, Institute of
Nautical Archaeology).
typhoon all forty-four aboard were lost; no distress call was ever placed.
The ROV was able to provide sonar and video footage to confirm the
sudden and catastrophic event, suggesting that structural elements contrib-
uted to the loss. The most obvious advantage of using ROVs is their ability
to remain underwater almost indefinitely. They also remove the human risk
factor, and they have excellent power and lift capabilities. ROV develop-
ment has been extensive: the size, work capacity, depth capabilities, and
payload all have increased in recent years. The Japanese research ROV
Kaiko has been to the Mariana Trench (10,911 m). Recent advances in
satellite communications and the burgeoning of the Internet now allow
information to be transmitted from ROVs in real time almost anywhere in
the world at reasonable cost.
Introduced into the world's oceans as a part of military technology for
remote observation, ROVs were quickly adapted by the offshore energy
industry to support deep-water operations. Evolution of those systems has
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
led to the current generation of vehicles, which provide a highly capable
proxy for human eyes, hands, and other senses in the deep sea. Although
early-generation vehicles were equipped with low-quality video cameras,
the latest generation's high-quality cameras transmit high-definition video
images and data by fiber optic cable.
Commercially available ROVs range from small, portable units used for
shallow-water inspection to the heavy, work-class, deep-water ROVs used
by the offshore oil and gas industry and the military. The small ROV
systems, such as the VideoRay, Phantom, and MiniRover, usually are powered
by electric-motor-driven thrusters of less than 20 horsepower that operate in
depths of less than 300 m. Those ROVs are relatively inexpensive in the
range of $10,000 to $100,000 and they are used for marine science, civil
facility inspections, recreation, archaeology, and similar observational tasks.
Medium-class ROV systems, such as the Scorpio and Viper, cost millions
of dollars. They weigh a metric ton or more, and with their overboard-
handling systems, winches, generators, and control systems are not readily
portable. They are typically semi-permanent installations on sunnort vessels.
Operating depths are 1,000-2,000 m.
. . . . . . . .
, , .
They carry a variety of payloads,
which could include one or two manipulators and a variety of special tools,
such as water jets and cutting tools. They also can be outfitted with sensors
for gathering scientific data and with still and video cameras. Sidescan
sonars for object location and obstacle avoidance are also common.
Researchers use the systems for exploration video and photographic docu-
ment support, instrument placement, and oceanographic data and sample
gathering.
Heavy, work-class ROVs, such as Innovator and Millennium, provide
maximum underwater power. They are capable of up to 500 horsepower
and could potentially reach 5,000 m depths with significant modifications.
They carry significant payloads and a variety of tools. The large ROV
systems cost upward of $2.5 million and are seldom used outside of the
international offshore oil and gas industry.
Only a limited number of ROVs are accessible to the international
scientific community (National Research Council, 1996) (Table 6.21. In the
United States, there is one facility at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution's National Deep Submergence Facility that provides a variety of
ROVs (a towed sidescan sonar system, a towed imaging and acoustic system,
and ROV capable of sampling) to the U.S. scientific community. The new
ROV Jason 11 uses fiber optics to provide the bandwidth necessary to
accommodate the wide variety of oceanographic sensors and imaging tools
available today and has a maximum depth rating of 6,500 m. Jason 11 can
105
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106
EXPLORATION OF THE SEAS
TABLE 6.2 Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) for Scientific Research and Exploration
Maximum Operating
ROV Operator Depth (m)
Kaikoa JAMSTEC, Japan 10,000
Jason 11 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, United States 6,500
ATV Scripps Institution of Oceanography 6,090
VICTOR 6000 French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea 6,000
Tiburon MBARI, United States 4,000
HYSUB 75-3000 JAMSTEC, Japan 3,000
Hyper Dolphin
Ventana MBARI, United States 1,850
Homer/Rover Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, United States 300
NOTE: JAMSTEC, Japan Marine Science and Technology Center; MBARI, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
aKaiko was reported lost at sea in the spring of 2003.
support nine video channels, high-definition video and electronic still cameras,
a multibeam sonar, and a closed-loop control via a 1,200 kHz Doppler that
enhances the quality of every sensor on board. It is reasonable to expect a
Jason 11 submersion to last up 1 00 hours.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
In scientific and commercial work another type of underwater vehicle
has emerged that will become more commonplace. Some 43 institutions
and companies around the world are operating AUVs (Appendix F) several
operate more than one. AUVs are untethered submersibles with onboard
power supplies and computers programmed to cover a specific route and
gather information through sensors, video, and still cameras (Figure 6.31.
AUVs are not new; the concept was demonstrated in 1898 by Nikola Tesla
using a remotely controlled, submersible boat.
AUVs have been developed for specialized research applications, and
the Office of Naval Research has initiated a partnership program with several
universities to develop AUVs. Some are designed for water column research,
including one used by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute to
observe the way Atlantic Ocean water changes as it enters the Arctic Ocean.
Another experiment used AUVs to track the evolution of biological commu-
n ities across nutrient-rich upwel I i ng fronts. Developed at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, the remote environmental monitoring unit sys-
tem is a low-cost AUV for coastal monitoring and multiple vehicle survey
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
operations. Although it is small, the remote environmental monitoring unit
system is configured to support a variety of sensor packages. It has a
conductivity, temperature, and depth sensor and optical backscatter sensors.
Telemetry data provide time of day, depth, heading, and a geographic
position for the data. A larger model, with an acoustic Doppler current
profiler (ADCP) and global positioning system, is being tested.
AUVs also can be designed specifically for near-bottom work. With a
gross weight of 680 kg and a maximum operating depth of 5,000 m, the
Autonomous Benthic Explorer has performed a variety of fully autonomous,
precisely navigated surveys in rugged seafloor terrain. The measurements
have included fine-scale magnetic and bathymetric surveys, development
of photo mosaics, and quantitative surveys of hydrothermal plumes. A
multibeam sonar (SM2000) was added recently. Typical dives last from 16
to 34 hours, depending on the instrument payload and the bottom terrain.
The Autonomous Benthic Explorer often operates independently of the sur-
face vessel, allowing the ship to perform other tasks beyond the acoustic
range of an AUV.
The offshore oil and gas industry uses AUVs for geologic hazard surveys
and pipeline inspection. Today, AUVs are used in high-resolution geo-
physics, water column physical measurements, and missions for the military.
There is no universal vehicle and AUV attributes are mission driven. Some
AUVs have been shown to be superior and more efficient than surface-ship-
towed systems for deep-water, high-resolution geophysical studies. The
Hugin 3000 AUV, which is rated to 3,000 m, became fully operational in
January 2001, for conducting geological hazard and archaeological surveys
in the Gulf of Mexico. Its sensors include a multibeam echo sounder for
swath bathymetry and imagery, a chirp sidescan sonar, a chirp sub-bottom
profiler, the conductivity, temperature, and depth scanner, and a cesium
magnetometer.
AUV technology is developing rapidly, and some research and devel-
opment is being done at universities. The Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology AUV Laboratory designs, builds, and tests small robotic submarines.
As their technological capabilities improve, AUVs will continue to provide
an effective alternative to other types of oceanographic Platforms in an
international ocean exploration program.
~ . .
Fixed and Floating Offshore Oil and Gas Structures
Several thousand structures have been installed in oceans around the
world for oil and gas extraction. Those fixed platforms could be used
107
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
Exploration in the Fourth Dimension
The concept of acquiring long time series data for fundamental oceanic
processes and key ecosystem variables at important locations in the global
ocean is not new. Yet with the exception of tide gauge stations, routine
collection of temperature data by commercial ships, and local physical
measurements, time series measurement programs are rare. A notable
exception is the Continuous Plankton Recorder Surveys in the North Atlantic
Ocean, which began in 1931 (Hardy, 1926; Planque and Batten, 20001.
Other continuing programs that measure biological variables include the
California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation. But they are gener-
ally poorly funded, and funding must be secured on nearly a year-to-year
basis. Virtually all recent planning reports stress the importance of long
time series to investigate the variability of fundamental Earth processes,
identify global changes, and describe the fundamental attributes of marine
ecosystem dynamics. Satellite sensors and moorings provide one level of
information, but more in situ observation is needed. Federal agencies
recently have recognized the importance of supporting long-term measure-
ment programs. For example, NSF supports time series stations near Bermuda
and Hawaii, and is sponsoring the Ocean Observatories Initiative and Major
Research Equipment and Facilities Construction projects; NOAA supports
an observatory on Axial Seamount on the Juan de Fuca Ridge in the north-
eastern section of the Pacific Ocean, off the North American coast, as well
as the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean array in the equatorial Pacific for moni-
toring El Nino. The National Ocean Partnership Program has initiated the
National Office for Integrated and Sustained Ocean Observations to coordi-
nate the development of an operational, integrated, sustained ocean obser-
vation system (Ocean.US, 20031. All of these projects could be considered
the beginning of time series measurements within a global ocean explora-
tion program.
Marine Archaeology
Undersea archaeology often requires equipment that is similar to that
used in oceanography, although adaptations generally are necessary for
specific studies. Most shipwrecks happen when vessels run aground, so the
sites are within human diving depths. True archaeological excavation, as
opposed to commercial salvage, can be conducted best and often only by
the human hands of divers. Shipwreck and inundated-site exploration relies
on equipment designed for relatively shallow work, down to around 70 m,
and generally not deeper than 90 m.
1 1 7
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1 1 8
EXPLORATION OF THE SEAS
Although most archaeological sites are in shallow waters, Robert
Ballard's discoveries of well-preserved wrecks below 200 m in the Black
Sea and the U.S. Navy's serendipitous discovery of two Phoenician wrecks
deepintheeasternMediterraneanshowthatextraordinarilywell-preserved
and important ancient wrecks also can be found in much deeper water.
Ballard's deep-water discoveries of the Titanic and various modern war-
ships demonstrate our ability to locate wrecks at almost any depth, even
when their precise locations are not known. The successful search for and
careful salvage of artifacts from the nineteenth-century steamship Central
America, more than a mile below the ocean's surface, is another example.
However, the great expense of such deep-water excavations cannot yet
justify the year-round operation of vessels large enough to carry the neces-
sary equipment and must depend on access to vessels designed for deed
oceanographic research.
to
~ 1
Almost all ancient wrecks currently known were found visually. The
most effective method of searching for ancient wrecks is by divers or, better,
by human-occupied submersibles with good visibility. In just one month in
2001, for example, the two-person Carolyn (Bass, 2002) allowed the discov-
ery of 14 ancient wrecks and 10 possible wrecks off the coast of Turkey
while at the same time the archaeologists there were revisiting 12 wrecks
identified in earlier surveys. More modern wrecks, with iron anchors,
armaments, and sometimes as is the case with the ironclad Monitor and
the submarine Hun/ey iron plating or iron hulls, are more easily found by
magnetometers or sonar. To be located by side-scan sonar a portion of the
wreck must protrude above the seafloor. Once a wreck is recognized by
sonar it can be visually inspected and recorded with ROVs. Manipulator
arms on ROVs can even be used to pick up small objects for sampling
purposes. Mud-penetrating sonar has also been used to locate wrecks
completely embedded in bottom sediments and invisible to the eye.
Once an underwater site has been chosen for detailed study, it can be
excavated either by airlifts (nearly vertical suction pipes of various sizes that
act much like vacuum cleaners), or by underwater dredges that suck up
sediment and discharge it away from the site more horizontally. In either
case, the actual digging is best done by hand, with the airlift or dredge used
to clear the area of hand-disturbed sand or silt. The site can be mapped
three dimensionally at each stage of the excavation by a number of photo-
grammetric techniques, including those that use the Eos Systems program
PhotoModeler Pro; the Virtual Mapper; and Rhinoceros, a NURBS 3D mod-
eling program (Green et al., 20021. They allow a single diver with a digital
camera to accomplish on the sea bed what once required the presence of
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
several divers with meter tapes, plane tables, or various pioneering photo-
grammetric mapping methods (Rosencrantz, 1975; Bass and van Doorninck,
19821. Marine archaeologists often lift heavy artifacts with air-filled bal-
loons, whose ascent is easi Iy control led (Fagan, 1 9851. Actual excavation,
of course, requires only a small fraction of the time necessary to study a site
scientifically; a rule of thumb is that for every month of diving, two years of
post-excavation laboratory conservation are required, not only to preserve
the finds from disintegration, but in order to learn the maximum possible
from each artifact (Ham i Iton, 1 9961. Better tech n iques of preservi ng water-
logged wood than by polyethylene glycol or freeze drying are needed;
however, although the use of silicone oils shows promise (Smith, 2003), and
replication of iron artifacts by pouring liquid epoxy into the natural molds
created by the growth of seabed concretion on oxidizing iron has a still
unknown shelf life. Conservation of iron artifacts (Hamilton, 1976) as large
as the entire Confederate submarine Hun/ey (Friends of the Hun/ey, Inc.
2003) or the 150-ton turret of the U.S.S. Monitor (National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, 2002 b) requires not only large space and skill,
but large financial resources.
Technology Development
A global ocean exploration program should promote and enhance the
development of new oceanographic technology. Major oceanographic
programs are frequently users or enhancers of existing technology, and in
many instances they have contributed to the development of important
advances in technology (Table 6.31. ADCPs, Lagrangian drifters and floats,
the autonomous Lagrangian circulation explorer, and improved meteoro-
logical packages were developed in conjunction with WOCE and the Tropical
Ocean and Global Atmosphere program. The Coastal Ocean Processes
program developed in situ plankton pumps, inner-shelf mooring techniques,
and instruments to measure gas flux. A global ocean exploration program
will no doubt stimulate new technologies, and resources should be avail-
able for the development of new tools to support selected exploration
voyages or investigations.
~ .~ ~ . ~ .
Finding: An ocean exploration program will require technology and
facilities selected to suit the needs of specific program plans. Access
to standard and new technology, including commercially available
equipment and technology that is not used for and by research institu-
tions, is necessary for an ocean exploration program to succeed.
· · ~
1 1 9
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EXPLORATION OF THE SEAS
TABLE 6.3 Advancements Attributed to Major Oceanographic Programs
Program
Advancement
World Ocean Profiling autonomous Lagrangian circulation explorer floats
Circulation Accelerator mass spectrometer for radiocarbon measurement
Experiment Satellite altimetry
Successful open-ocean use of passive tracer technology
Improved data assembly and availability
Joint Global Standardized methods for nutrient chemistry
Ocean Flux Study Certified reference material programs (carbon dioxide reference
materials, dissolved organic carbon workshop, particulate
organic carbon sediment comparison)
Dissolved organic carbon methodology
Ridge Interdisciplinary Radioactive dating of young basalts
Global Experiments In situ logging temperatures
Seafloor geodetic techniques
United States Science Scripps Institution of Oceanography's wireline reentry systems
Support Program
Coastal Ocean In situ plankton pumps
Processes Inner-shelf mooring
Instruments to measure gas flux
Tropical Ocean and Atlas moorings
Global Atmosphere Real-time subsurface data
Distribution of data via Internet
Distribution of graphics via Internet
Distribution of predictions via Internet
SOURCE: National Research Council, 1999.
Access to commercially available assets, such as HOVs, ROVs, and
AUVs, would increase flexibility and allow researchers more access to
new environments, and thus promote the development of even more
new technology. Both new and existing technologies will be required;
the development of novel probes and sensors for in situ sampling and
molecular analysis will be particularly important for biological sam-
pling and discovery of organisms and processes. A global ocean explo-
ration program will no doubt stimulate such new technologies, and
resources should be available for the development of new and innova-
tive tools to support selected exploration voyages or investigations.
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
Recommendation: The list of equipment for an ocean exploration pro-
gram should be tailored to meet the scientific program's plans. The
exploration program should seek to expedite the development and use
of the new technology in new undersea environments.
DATA MANAGEMENT
Oceanographers must improve their use and integration of data from
the ocean sciences, mine those data for new knowledge, and convey new
insights to decision makers and the general public. Our knowledge of the
natural world is limited not just by the complexity of the natural entities and
processes but also by the complexity of the data that describe them. Although
an exploration program cannot be the sole driver for advanced data systems
in the ocean sciences, discovery will depend as much on being able to
make use of multidisciplinary data in federated repositories as it will on
collecting the data in the first place. The importance of data management
has been receiving increased attention with new computing and technology
capabilities (e.g., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 20011.
Technology no longer limits data management. Network speeds double
every nine months; computer speed doubles every 18 months (Moore, 1965;
Intel, 20031. Bandwidth and storage also have grown exponentially. We
can afford to "waste" storage and networks while we conserve "scarce"
computing as these exponentials cross a complete reversal of the situation
that gave rise to small numbers of isolated data archives. Mass storage
systems must be treated as large, distributed data repositories, fed by instru-
ments on ships, moorings, cables, and satellites operating nearly in real
time. A program in ocean exploration should take on key challenges for the
oceanographic sciences by modeling, designing, and implementing the data
discovery, integration, and visualization components for a semantic web in
envi ronmental science essential Iy an I nternet for envi ronmental data and
information. This will involve developing and testing the use of formal
ontologies to facilitate scientific analysis by discovery and automated inte-
gration of relevant, but heterogeneous data. In this context, "ontology" is a
fairly new concept that is emerging from various semantic-web initiatives.
Ontology is a formal representation of all the major concepts in a discipline;
it is a semantic system that contains key terms, definitions of those terms,
and specification of relationships among those terms. Today much ofthis
information is exchanged through the use of extensible markup language.
There are ongoing efforts to build ontologies for various professional fields.
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An early example from ODP was the development of a relational data-
base with a Web interface to present information, much of it metadata
about the cores recovered. The schema, or standards, developed to describe
recovered sediments and rocks are very helpful in the next step of establish-
ing a useful ontology. The resultant ontology could be readily extended to
physical samples of Earth materials no matter the source.
Archiving and annotation of video and other photographic data could
require a significant investment. There are few standards for video archiving,
and there is no easy access to archived information. One system that shows
promise is the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's Video Informa-
tion Management System, a relational database used to archive information
from cameras deployed from its ROVs. The Video Information Manage-
ment System creates files that tag events seen in video to environmental
parameters recorded by other systems on the vehicle. It provides the raw
material for establishing ontology usefulness outside of this particular appli-
cation. The files are created through a graphical user interface connected to
a knowledge base that is tied to thousands of biological and geological
observations that could be observed in the video frames. The video analyst
can access windows on the computer touch screen for various oceanic
environments (midwater, shallow-water benthic, deep-water benthic) with
an array of buttons that represent what is likely to be encountered. If the
analyst were to push the button for a species of squid, a file can be created
to link the observation of the squid with date, time, latitude, longitude,
depth, temperature, pressure, salinity, oxygen concentration, video tape,
and frame number. That file can be incorporated into a relational database
that extends for more than 10 years and includes data from more than 2,500
dives. The relational database allows researchers to test hypotheses that
require the integration of results from many years of data. Thus this system
fulfills a principal requirement for ocean exploration: it permits later genera-
tions of researchers to address questions that might not have even been
posed origi nal Iy.
The development of intelligent analytical tools and an infrastructure for
semantic integration of diverse, distributed data sources will remove barriers
to knowledge discovery that now plague oceanography. The development
of readily applicable engineering methods will ensure that the resulting
knowledge environment supports the needs not only of scientists, but of
decision makers and the public as well. Perhaps no discipline stands to
gain more from these advances than oceanography, where researchers are
grappling with questions that range over extremes of spatial and temporal
scales, and where investigations encompass all of the physical and life
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
sciences. The requirements for centralized data archives have largely dis-
appeared in preference to a federated collection of data sources generally
mai ntai ned by those closest to the data.
The "grid" is a term used for defining a variety of notions linking com-
putational resources such as people, computers, and data (Foster and
Kesselman, 1 9991. A "data grid" is a network of storage resources from
archival systems, to caches, to databases that are linked by common inter-
faces across a distributed network. Data grids can be found in physics
research (Grid Physics Network, 2001; Hoschek et al, 2000), in biomedical
applications (Biomedical Informatics Research Network, 2001), and in the
ecological sciences (Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity, 19991. Other
data grids are developing for astronomy, earthquake research, and multi-
sensor systems. "Real-time data grids" manage and provide access to real-
time data from distributed sensors and sensor networks.
Real-time data management is faced with the problems of disseminating
large collections of data to users and applications; providing a collaborative
environment for analyzing and performing data-intensive computing; and
managing, curating, storing, and moving large quantities of information.
The data grid provides solutions to these problems through software that
integrates multiple data resources and provides a uniform method for access-
ing data across a virtual network space. For example, the Real-Time Obser-
vatories, Applications, and Data Management Network (2002) is developing
infrastructure for:
.
Internet-lnternet provider-wireless Internet protocol connectivity to
diverse sensors for multiple disciplines, including off-shore on moor-
ings and ships;
· seamless access to real-time data from heterogeneous sensor networks;
integration of sensor input across disciplines with real-time integra-
tion triggered by events; and
· metadata attribute-based discovery for real-time data to achieve the
goals above requires an architecture that is flexible, scalable, and
distributed, which deals with diverse formats of real-time and stored
data and provides dynamic metadata discovery.
.
These approaches are being pursued aggressively in other fields, and
oceanography must depart from the technology-bound, older systems of
subject-matter archives (or none) to develop a more flexible system that
encourages discovery.
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Linking to Existing Archives
Many oceanographic data archives already exist, such as NOAA's
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, which con-
sists of the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), the National
Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), and the National Climatic Data Center
(NCDC). Those centers acquire and preserve the nation's atmospheric,
climatic, geophysical, and oceanographic data, and their mission is to pre-
serve quality, consistency, and continuity for the public interest, policy
development, economic good of the nation, and the progress of science.
They share responsibility for operating the World Data Centers to facilitate
the international exchange of scientific data.
NODC data holdings include physical, chemical, and biological
oceanographic data for estuaries, coastal seas, and the deep oceans; NOAA
marine environmental buoy data, sea level, and ocean current data; NOAA
CoastWatch data and images; and satellite altimetry. NODC collects data
from federal agencies, universities, research institutions, and private industry
and through bilateral exchanges with other countries. Users can access
NODC data many ways through online searches direct downloads and
as archived material on diverse media.
NGDC has been the primary repository for many years for geophysical
data collected aboard vessels in transit (depth, magnetic field, gravity)
including U.S. and foreign research vessels. Oceanographic holdings include
solid-earth geophysics data with information on magnetics, gravity, and
natural hazards; marine geology and geophysics data, including seafloor
samples, bathymetry, gravity, magnetics, and sub-bottom profiles; and paleo-
climatological ice cores. NGDC gathers data from NOAA observation
programs, universities, other government agencies, non-U.S. organizations,
and satellites. Its products include software and systems that enhance the
use of environmental data. Unfortunately, NGDC is little more than an
archive; it does not maintain comprehensive holdings, and retrieval of data
can be difficult. The data it receives are not subject to quality control, and
there is no straightforward way to retrieve readily-specific data from the
archive it provides.
NCDC is the principal repository for atmospheric and climate data
archives. Its holdings include national and global environmental climate,
satellite, and radar data from NOAA and National Weather Service agencies
and laboratories, and it provided access to U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy
databases and products from non-Department of Defense users. NCDC
data sources include satellites, radar, remote-sensing systems; National
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OCEAN RESEARCH TECHNOLOGIES
Weather Service cooperative observers; aircraft and ships; radiosonde, wind
profi ler, rocketsonde; solar radiation networks; and National Weather
Service forecasts, warnings, and analyses. NCDC products include user-
defined climatological graphs and storm event data; near-real-time and
archived radar and satellite images; hourly, daily, and monthly climate
summaries; and national and global analyses and technical reports.
Other oceanograph ic data arch Ives contai n i nformation on global ocean
circulation, geochemistry, and geology. NASA's Earth Observing System-
Data Interface System is the primary U.S. repository for satellite observa-
tions of Earth. Under the National Ocean Partnership Program's auspices,
the United States is preparing data archives and standards for operational
ocean observatory systems. ODP maintains its own archives of results from
core and borehole logs and a relational database with a World Wide Web
interface that describes the cores. Several large international science pro-
grams, among them WOCE and JGOFS, have created archives for physical
and chemical oceanographic data. Those databases have continued to
grow even though their research programs have ended.
Finding: In the past, the lack of standardized data collection efforts
hampered long-term utility of very large data sets (e.g., the Inter-
national Decade of Ocean Exploration). Crucial to the long-term
success of the programs is its ability to provide useful archives for
access long after the original exploration efforts end.
Recommendation: Data collection and reporting must be standardized
to allow data sets from a variety of explorations to be integrated. The
sampling techniques and reporting formats should be designed to be
acceptable to the worldwide oceanographic community.
The proposed ocean exploration program should be committed to con-
tributing its own relevant data to the existing archives through its Web
presence. In some cases, it will be necessary to provide software patches to
the exist) ng databases that wi l l al low users to i nterface with the databases,
regardless of the type of data accessed. Ideally, users of the exploration
program's portal should be able to download data and have access to
graphic presentations of the data and collection locations.
Finding: The Internet is a phenomenal new tool for disseminating the
results of oceanographic work to a wide variety of audiences. The
excitement and unique information gathered by the proposed explora-
tion program is very well suited to Internet dissemination.
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Recommendation: The Internet should be embraced by an ocean
exploration program as one place to describe and enhance exploration
activities. A program in ocean exploration should work to address
some of the key challenges to the oceanographic sciences by model-
ing, designing, and implementing the data discovery, integration, and
visualization components for a semantic web in environmental science.
Data Access Policies
The data management system of the proposed Office of Ocean Explora-
tion should establish data access policies before the first observations are
collected. Restrictions on publication or distribution of data from existing
databases must be respected when those data are accessed. For example,
some industrial data might be made available through an exploration Web
site, but with restrictions such as the inability to access individual data
points. Users could locate relational graphs, but not the data used to
generate them. In this way the data would be available and useful for
expedition planning, but not for quantitative analysis.
A default policy could provide for immediate availability through the
Internet for any new data generated or acquired through the ocean explora-
tion program, although the traditional rules of research would allow inves-
tigators some proprietary time before the public access is allowed. Proper
calibration or data validation should be expedient but still ensure the quality
of the data. It must be recognized, however, that in many cases unrestricted
dissemination of data is not desirable: for example, it would not be useful to
reveal the location of an archaeological site that could be plundered if that
information were readily available to the public. Data access policies must
be flexible to allow for withholding specific information when explorers can
adequately justify the need to do so. Alternatively, a "copyleft" policy
could be developed. Copyleft, in the popular usage, means "a copyright
notice that permits unrestricted redistribution and modification, provided
that all copies and derivatives retain the same permissions" (Design Science
License, 20021. Certainly, some mechanism must be developed to balance
investigators' proprietary time against the expeditions' public dissemination
of results and data. An exploration program's ability to react to events or
transients is severely degraded when data are not immediately available.
Furthermore, the effective archiving of data and metadata becomes more
expensive if arbitrary delays are introduced.
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Finding: Despite the efforts of federal agencies and other parties, data
sharing remains problematic across the ocean sciences. The success
of an ocean exploration program will be greatly enhanced by allowing
data to be shared soon after collection. Real-time data access is also a
possibility that should be considered in the early stages of the pro-
gram.
Recommendation: Data access and management policies must be
established before exploration begins. In particular, any exploration
program should encourage oceanographers to improve their capacity
to access and integrate data from many ocean sciences, extract new
information from those data sets, and convey new insights to decision
makers and the public. The proposed Exploration Program for the
Oceans office should seek ways to contribute to or link exploration
data to existing oceanographic and archaeological data archives.
POSTCRUISE SAMPLE AND DATA ANALYSIS
Considerable shore-based data and sample analysis is often required
after a cruise, but funds for postcruise support have been lacking in some
major national and international programs, such as NOAA's Office of Ocean
Exploration and ODP. The obvious result has been to limit the ability of the
scientific community to make the best use of information extracted from
data. Support for postcruise science should be a major component of a
global ocean exploration program.
Finding: Often only preliminary investigations can be conducted while
oceanographic cruises are under way. Additional materials and equip-
ment for sample processing on land must be accessed in order to
uncover critical information. Discoveries by an ocean exploration
program are very likely to occur as a result of additional, postcruise
samp e processing.
Recommendation: Support of postcruise science should be a major
component of a global ocean exploration program. Researchers should
be supported for activities that will enhance their shipboard work,
such as sample analysis and data interpretation and presentation.
Without direct support, many discoveries might not come to fruition.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
exploration program
