Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory
Woods Hole Oceanographic Insititution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is constructing a coastal seafloor observatory off the south coast of the island of Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts (MVCO). This observatory will include subsea oceanographic sensors and shore-based instrumentation with meteorological sensors. Additional "guest" ports will be provided for additional sensors, both subsea and on the meteorological mast, as required. Because of the shallow depth, divers may easily perform maintenance and sensor installations. The seafloor node and the meteorological mast will be connected by buried cables to a small unmanned laboratory on-shore. This laboratory will provide essential data communication links to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and to the scientific control computers, where all data will be processed, archived and made available via the Internet.
MVCO will provide scientists and engineers with the capability to operate long-term continuous experiments with real time data feedback in the highly dynamic coastal ocean environment. Experiments in air-sea interaction, sediment transport, beach erosion, wave studies, predictive coastal modeling, seafloor biological processes, and underwater acoustics will all be possible.
Contact: Jim Edson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, jedson@whoi.edu
