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WHOI Funding
and Awards --> Cecil H. and
Ida M. Green Technology Innovation Awards -->
2000 Abstracts
Abstracts of 2000 Cecil H. and
Ida M. Green Technology Innovation Awards
Development
of a Nearshore Node at the Martha's Vineyard Coastal
Observatory
Tom Austin, Jim Edson, Steve Elgar, Mike Purcell, Britt
Raubenheimer and Peter Traykovski
Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering Department
This proposal requests funding
to begin the development of a nearshore node at the
Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO). The funds
will cover the construction costs of the mechanical
housing, electronic components, and ethernet server.
The nearshore node will be deployed approximately 500
m offshore in 7-m water depth under separate funding.
The nearshore node will mirror the power and data retrieval
capabilities of the offshore node that is currently
being deployed 1500 m offshore in 12-rn water depth.
The nearshore node will include design changes to make
the structure more rugged and suitable for the extremely
harsh environment that characterizes the surf zone.
The structure also will be streamlined to lessen the
flow distortion around the node. The node will include
a comprehensive suite of instruments for long-term measurements
of the waves, currents, and seafloor location in this
wave dominated region of the ocean. It will provide
1 kW of power and high bandwidth real-time data retrieval,
and will complement the connections available at the
meteorological mast, located 50 m onshore of the shoreline.
A full capacity nearshore node would have a wide variety
of users interested in processes in this environment
both from within WHOI and from external users. The range
of scientific interests of the authors of the proposal
(Elgar and Raubenheimer: Nearshore, surf zone and swash
zone processes, Traykovski: Inner shelf and bedform
processes, Edson: Coastal meteorology and air-sea interactions)
clearly demonstrate this. The very nature of this type
of facility is intended to have a broad user base. The
engineering effort proposed here is in response to demand
from the scientific community for observational platforms
capable of making continuous long-term, high power and
data rate measurements. As a result, the design of the
nodes has been developed in close collaboration with
the science end users. While the technology used for
the node electronics is untested, we believe that its
innovative design will provide a unique set of observational
tools for researchers. The deployment of this node and
its permanent instruments at the edge of the surf zone
will also provide unique access to this hostile environment
for nearshore researchers. Finally, the overall access
to power and data retrieval at the onshore, nearshore,
and offshore sites will enhance the capabilities of
the MVCO to study processes in the coastal, surf, and
swash zones. For example, these nodes will greatly facilitate
studies involving ocean surface waves in the shoaling
region and surf zone; wave-driven currents, bottom stress
and sediment transport; wave-induced changes to mean
sea level (setup and setdown); wave run-up and beach
erosion; and the interaction between waves, currents,
and nearshore morphology including sand bars, megaripples,
and wave-orbital ripples.
The
Application of Focused and "Diffraction-Limited" Beams
to High-Resolution Doppler Sonar
E. A. Terray and T. Austin
Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering Department
This proposal requests seed
money to carry out a feasibility study and detailed
design of a focused acoustic transmitter for use in
a range-gated pulse-coherent Doppler sonar (PCDS). The
purpose of this work is to facilitate the development
of a compact, low power and low cost PODS designed for
measuring ocean turbulence from small Autonomous Underwater
Vehicles (AUVs), such as REMUS. The principal difficulty
that we propose to address here is that of achieving
an approximately non-divergent beam pattern with a width
of 0(1 cm) over a limited range of roughly 1 m.
An
Autonomous Triggering System (ATS) for Biogeochemical
Sampling of Arctic Eddies
Robin Singer
Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering Department
Richard Krishfield
Geology & Geophysics Department
and
Albert Plueddemann
Physical Oceanography Department
We are proposing the development
of an Autonomous Triggering System (ATS) for the study
of isolated, intense velocity features in the ocean.
The concept for this autonomous, adaptive sampling system
is to use a programmable controller to analyze data
from continuously operating, low-power instruments and
selectively trigger high-power or sample-limited devices
during critical ocean events. In our implementation
of the ATS, in-situ analysis of velocity data from a
drifting buoy in the Arctic will be used to trigger
biogeochemical sampling devices during encounters with
eddies. The intent of this implementation will be to
enable determination of the origin and lifetime of Arctic
eddies.
Developing
Hybridization Methods and Equipment for the In-Situ
Detection and Enumeration of Planktonic Protists at
Long-Term Monitored Sites
Rebecca J. Gast and Mark R. Dennett
Biology Department and
Kenneth W. Doherty
Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering Department
We propose to initiate the
development of an automated in situ hybridization system
for detection and quantitation of planktonic protists
that can be deployed and operated remotely. Sample collection
and processing would take place independently of direct
human interaction, and data representing numbers of
positively hybridized cells could then be analyzed by
researchers. This technology would represent a huge
step forward for microbial ecology, allowing comprehensive
temporal studies and the investigation of environmentally
induced changes over sampling scales that would not
normally be feasible due to cost or lack of personnel
time. Our proposal is particularly timely due to the
implementation of long-term monitored sites like LEO,
the Martha's Vineyard Observatory and the Bermuda Testbed
Mooring, as well as the recent development of complementary
instrumentation, such as the Time Series Submersible
Incubation Device (Tolli, Taylor & Doherty) and a submersible
flow cytometer (Olson).
Development
of a Portable Underwater Hyperspectral Radiometer
Sonke Johnson
Biology Department
and
Sandy Williams
Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering Department
Despite the fact that in
situ light measurements are critical to the study of
many oceanographic and limnological processes, ranging
from vision to ultraviolet radiation to environmental
monitoring, relatively few measurements are taken compared
to measurements of other underwater characteristics.
One reason for this is the cost, size and complexity
of currently available underwater spectrometers. We
propose to construct an underwater spectrometer that,
although it accurately and sensitively records both
the ultraviolet and visible spectrum, is extremely compact
and inexpensive and can be operated remotely by any
standard computer. The instrument will be of great use
to the principal investigator and other researchers
concerned with the underwater light field and will be
the prototype for a more sophisticated, highly sensitive
instrument designed for the deep-sea.
Digital
Signal Processing for Flow Cytometric Particle Analyses
Robert J. Olson
Biology Department
Flow cytometry is a rapid
and quantitative method to characterize individual microscopic
particles in water as they pass through a focused laser
beam, and it has become a valuable tool for oceanographers.
Light scattering signals provide information about particle
size, while fluorescence properties allow us to discriminate
between phytoplankton and other particles and to classify
some phytoplankton cell types. We have developed an
in-situ flow cytometer (now being tested in moored operation)
to examine phytoplankton responses to environmental
changes over time scales ranging from hours to months,
including storms, wind-driven upwelling, and hypoxia
events. We now propose to investigate the use of digital
signal processing (DSP) techniques to analyze the signals
from this instrument. In essence, this will enable us
to examine the shape as well as the size of each optical
signal. For example, on-board DSP could report the number
of cells in a chain of diatoms, and the integrated size
of the whole chain, which is not possible with conventional
approaches. This technology will extend the range of
flow cytometry to the larger phytoplankton, which are
very important in the coastal ocean, and allow us to
better quantify primary production due to both small
and large cells.
Our goals in this project are to 1) configure a benchtop
system to analyze signals from the in situ flow cytometer
with commercially-available DSP hardware/software, and
2) develop algorithms for interpreting signals spanning
a realistic range of particle sizes and shapes. Achieving
these goals will significantly strengthen an NSF proposal
for a next-generation flow cytometer. It will also pave
the way for using DSP in a variety of other instruments
utilizing time-varying optical signals, such as our
Pump-During-Probe active fluorescence instruments used
to investigate phytoplankton physiological condition.
Improved
Underwater Navigation for the Slocum Autonomous Glider
David M. Fratantoni and Daniel J. Tones
Physical Oceanography Department
We are requesting support
for development of a new navigational subsystem for
the Slocum autonomous glider. We will evaluate the performance
of a new miniature phased-array Doppler velocity log
(DVL) developed by R.D. Instruments and will develop
the hardware and software interfaces required to integrate
this instrument with the Slocum vehicle. The work proposed
will result in substantial improvements to the accuracy
of our underwater navigation and will significantly
increase the utility of the SLOCUM as a multidisciplinary
research platform in the coastal ocean.
Development
and Demonstration of a Combined X-Ray Diffraction and
Selective Chemical Leaching Procedure for the Characterization
of Particulate Carbonate in the Oceans
Steven J. Manganini
Geology & Geophysics Department
and
Frederick L. Sayles
Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry Department
Carbonate fluxes in the oceans
are a major component of the ocean-atmosphere carbon
cycle. Changes in the delivery and preservation of carbonate
in the past have been invoked in virtually all hypotheses
seeking to explain glacial-interglacial CO2 change.
The behavior of carbonates in the water column and in
the sediments is controlled by phase and the chemical
composition of those phases. For example, in the deep
ocean, aragonitic and Mg carbonate phases are more easily
dissolved than the calcite carbonate phase. Settling
particle transport is the primary pathway by which carbonates
are delivered to the deep sea. Quantifying and characterizing
carbonate phases in settling materials is therefore
essential in assessing the carbonate system.
In a 5-part plan we propose to characterize carbonate
phases in deep-ocean settling material by applying 2
new modified methods that include X-ray diffraction
techniques and wet chemistry elemental fractionation
techniques. Our 5 specific goals are (1) To prepare
reference standards and appropriate sediment trap samples
for X-ray diffraction and wet chemical fractionation
analysis. (2) To quantify the carbonate phases of calcite,
aragonite, and magnesium calcite, in deep-sea particles
from the JGOFS time series Arabian Sea sediment trap
material by X-ray diffraction methods. An essential
modified method will be developed in order to analyze
small samples that are available from sediment trap
collection. (3) To build 4 Sequential Processing Reaction
Vessels (SPRV) for the elemental fraction analysis.
(4) To quantify the carbonate-associated elements Ca,
Mg, and Sr in deep-sea particles by applying the SPRV
wet chemical elemental fractionation method. (5) As
a proof of concept, to establish relationships between
the carbonate phases of calcite, aragonite, magnesium
calcite, and possibly dolomite, and the carbonate related
elements Ca, Mg, and Sr in deep-sea particles from the
Arabian Sea.
We believe this research will enhance the likelihood
of attracting funding for new studies of the role of
aragonite and Mg carbonates in the oceanic carbonate
cycle, in regard to controls on solubility in sediments
and the settling of metastable phases through the water
column.
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