dw – Chief Scientist Workshop

Gavia AUV & Outland ROV Operations

dw — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 15:04:03 +0000

Today is our last full day out to sea on this workshop cruise. We’ll be deploying the Gavia AUV and tasking it with doing some bottom mapping over one of Delaware’s artificial reefs. The water depths are most likely too shallow for the RV Sharp to safely travel over this section of the reef, which makes having the AUV invaluable for doing these types of operations. While the Gavia is off doing its multi-hour pre-programmed autonomous mission, the scientists will be deploying the Outland ROV over the site of the Golden Eagle wreckage to gain more experience with over-the-side ROV operations. The modified custom-built (by the workshop scientists) bottom sampling add-on to the ROV has been called “The SMAXX” and its sampling mechanism has been updated based on yesterdays ROV operations. The Outland ROV’s robotic gripper holds onto a ball at the end of a bungie cord that runs through the sampler. When the end of the sampling opening is near the target specimens, the ROV gripper is remotely opened, which releases the ball and traps the samples in the PVC sample pipe.

Preparing for AUV Deployment

Gavia Deployment

Gavia Over the Side

Culvert Pipes mapped by the AUV

Outland ROV with The SMAXX

Mei Sato operating the ROV

ROV Recovery

Bottom Samples from The SMAXX

ROV and Multibeam Ops over the Radford

dw — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 14:34:14 +0000

Today’s operations were over the artificial reef site off the coast of Delaware where the USS Arthur W Radford was scuttled. In preparation for the operations, the RV Hugh R Sharp made several passes over the area with its multibeam echosounder or swathe system to map the seabed and get a more precise location for the actual location & depth of the wreckage. Once this data was gathered and discussed with the crew & science team, the RV Sharp was positioned in dynamic positioning (DP) mode to keep it stationary while the Outland ROV was deployed over the side. Members of the science party took turns handling the umbilical tether for the ROV as well as operating the ROV remotely from inside the lab van.

Outland ROV Operations

ROV Operations on CSW

Outland ROV Handling

Bottom Sampling Results

ROV Ops

ROV Control Center

Science Friday!

dw — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 17:09:16 +0000

What do you do when you’ve got a diverse group of scientists and the weather is a tad too iffy to deploy underwater robots? You hold an impromptu Science Friday session and hear about some of the exciting work that the other scientists are doing of course!

Science Friday – Amy Mueller

Science Friday – Rachel Obbard

Science Friday – Ryan Portner

Science Friday – Sarah Webster

Science Friday – Kerri Whilden

Science Friday – Sophia Merrifield

Science Friday – Mei Sato

Science Friday – Art Trembanis

Science Friday – Kenny Haulsee

AutoNaut ASV Launch

dw — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 21:05:22 +0000

Willie Flemings and Kerry Whilden from Texas A&M University Geochemical and Environmental Research Group brought an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) called an AutoNaut to test out on the cruise. The AutoNaut was deployed from the Sharp and the ship followed it for the next several hours, keeping it in sight. The first attempt at recovering the USV from the Sharp was unsuccessful, so the small boat was deployed to recover it and ferry it to the ship for recovery.

AutoNaut USV

AutoNaut Deployment

AutoNaut Deployed

AutoNaut Small Boat Recovery

Multibeam Ops over the Radford

dw — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 01:31:56 +0000

Seas were a tad rough earlier today, so the deployment of the second AUV was scrubbed for the day. The RV Sharp headed back to the Bay and began doing multibeam ops over the artificial reef that is home to the USS Arthur W. Radford in preparation for upcoming ROV operations and higher resolution scans by the Gavia AUV.

Multibeam over the Radford

Water Sampling with the CTD

dw — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 19:43:42 +0000

One of the objectives for Samuel Georgian on this cruise was to collect and analyze water samples for pH and total alkalinity in an effort “to help us better understand carbonate chemistry dynamics in coastal environments”. Sam made good use of the Sharps CTD (Conductivity, Temperature & Depth) system to get his samples. The CTD system has motion compensation and is capable of being operated by a single person. It’s equipped with sensors for pressure, temperature, salinity (conductivity), oxygen, sound velocity, turbidity, fluorescence and depth. It also holds multiple rosettes that can be fired off on command to seal in a water sample at various depths.

Water Samples

CTD

CTD System

CTD Profile

CTD Location

Gliders off the Continental Shelf

dw — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 15:26:44 +0000

Baltimore Canyon

Day one of the underway ops is slated for AUV deployments off the continental shelf. The RV Sharp departed around 11pm from Marine Operations in Lewes and headed offshore for the deeper waters of Baltimore Canyon. Sarah Webster from the Applied Physics Library at the University of Washington has a Sea Glider to deploy and Sophia Merrifield from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program brought a Slocum Electric Glider to deploy.

Sea Glider

Slocum Glider

Safety First!

dw — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 14:42:07 +0000

The safety of the crew and the scientists on board are top priority. Sean McNulty gave all of the workshop participants a run-down on the ship, drills, safety on board and how to properly use and get into the personal flotation devices & immersion suits.

Safety Briefing

Putting on an Immersion Suit

Safety First – Immersion Suit

Gumby Suits All Around