News Releases
New Hybrid Vehicle Will Enable U.S. Scientists to Reach Deepest Parts of the World Ocean Floor
For the first time since 1960, US scientists will be able to explore the deepest parts of the world’s oceans, up to seven miles below the surface, with a novel underwater vehicle capable of performing multiple tasks in extreme conditions. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are developing a battery-powered underwater robot to enable scientists to explore the ocean’s most remote regions up to 11,000 meters (36,000-feet) deep.
Read MoreGeological Tool Helps Scientists Map the Interior of the Ocean
A new application of a decades-old technique to study Earth’s interior is allowing scientists “see” the layers in the ocean, providing new insight on the structure of ocean currents, eddies and mixing processes. The findings, reported in this week’s Science by a team from the University of Wyoming and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), could be a major step forward in the ability to remotely survey the interior of the ocean.
Read MoreNew Imaging Vehicle Maps Coral Reefs to Determine Health of Reef and Fisheries
Deepwater coral reefs in the US Virgin Islands may occupy a much larger area and be in better health than previously thought, based on evidence gathered by a new autonomous underwater vehicle which flies through the sea like a helicopter.
Read MoreConstruction Begins on WHOI’s New Coastal Vessel
With the press of a computer button and the plasma cutting of a sheet of aluminum, construction began earlier this month on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) new 60-foot coastal vessel at Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation in Somerset, MA. The $1.6 million vessel is scheduled for delivery in March 2004.
Read MoreOffshore Air-Sea Interaction Tower Expands Research Capabilities of the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory
Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and their colleagues will gain critical environmental information from the Air-Sea Interaction Tower (ASIT) being built off the south shore of Martha’s Vineyard. Construction of the tripod-shaped tower began in August and is expected to be completed in late September. The tower will be linked to the Institution’s Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory (MVCO), which was built and installed several years ago off South Beach near the Katama Airfield.
Read MoreNearshore Observatory to be Installed off Martha’s Vineyard for Long-term Meteorological and Oceanographic Studies
Real-time data on coastal storms, on movement of sand that buries harbor entrances and inlets, and on the impact of winds on shoreline processes will soon be available through a…
Read MoreAtlantis (AGOR-25) Construction Update
Construction is progressing at Halter Marine Inc. in Moss Point, Mississippi, on the 274-foot Atlantis (AGOR-25). The diagram indicates status of construction. TMG refers to Trinity Marine Gulfport and HMI indicates Halter
Halter Marine delivered the Thomas G. Thompson (AGOR-23) to the University of Washington in 1990 and is building the Roger Revelle (AGOR-24) for Scripps Institution of Oceanography for delivery in 1996. Delivery of Atlantis (AGOR-25) to WHOI is expected in 1997.