EX2102: 2021 Technology Demonstration (AUV & Mapping)

EX-2102

From May 14-27, 2021, NOAA Ocean Exploration led the 2021 Technology Demonstration on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to Norfolk, Virginia. The expedition provided an opportunity to test several technologies that will allow the ocean exploration community to explore deeper, farther, and more comprehensively than previously possible. The expedition brought together NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL), the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and the Inner Space Center/University of Rhode Island (ISC/URO) to advance new ocean technologies and sampling techniques. The expedition had three overall objectives; field testing and engineering readiness of WHOI/NASA JPL Oprheus autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV), piloting environmental DNA (eDNA) collection for NOAA Ocean Exploration and mapping priority deepwater areas offshore the U.S. Southeast, largely focused on the Blake Plateau. The Orpheus AUV project was the first Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute supported project to take place on a NOAA ship. During 14 days at sea 8 AUV deployments were completed between 12 and 866 meters in depth. Over 724 GB of downlooking AUV 4K video were collected. The AUVs surveyed 30 linear kilometers of seafloor and logged over 16 hours of bottom time. The AUVs spent a total of 32 hours 59 minutes in the water, which included autonomous water column exploration. Twelve CTD rosette casts were completed, most simultaneous with AUV operations. Using the Niskin bottles on the CTD rosette, 120 water samples were collected for post-cruise eDNA analysis. A detailed standard operating procedures document for eDNA collection was developed during the expedition. Exploration mapping operations included acoustic data collection using the EM 304 MKII multibeam echosounder, Simrad EK60/80 split-beam echosounders, Knudsen sub-bottom profiler and Acoustic Doppler Profilers. 8,703 square kilometers of largely unmapped seafloor were mapped using the EM 304 with 8,519 square kilometers being within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and Territorial Sea deeper than 200 m. All operations and data collected were in U.S. waters. EX-21-02 took full advantage of the additional reach afforded by a world that has shifted towards virtual interactions as the norm. By increasing accessibility through free, virtual, and public formats, the team was able to interact with far greater numbers than has been typical in the past.
Cite this dataset when used as a source.
gov.noaa.ncei.oer.cruise:EX2102_COLLECTION
Other Access Online access information not available.
Distribution Formats Format not available
    Distributor Distributor information not available
    Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
    ncei.info@noaa.gov
    Dataset Principal Investigator Michael White
    Expedition Coordinator
    NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
    michael.white@noaa.gov
    Coverage Description Cruise Start and End
    Time Period Unknown to Unknown;Unknown to Unknown
    Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
    West:-80.99
    East:-73.91
    South:27.52
    North:37.85
    Spatial Coverage Map
    Documentation links not available.
    Publication Dates
    • creation: 2021-05-14
    Dataset Progress Status Complete - production of the data has been completed
    Data Update Frequency Not planned
    Purpose EX-21-02 operations will involve a short transit east of Cape Canaveral followed by focused overnight ocean mapping operations that will occur mostly in deep water (>200 m). The first 2-3 days will be spent deploying small boats and AUVs for acoustic calibration in shallow (less than 100m) of water. Pending successful calibrations, the ship will transit to the central Blake Plateau to complete a USBL calibration. Once complete, the remaining days at sea will focus on daytime AUV deployments and CTD casts and overnight operations will focus on mapping priority areas. As a technology demonstration, the mission team anticipates that at any time during the expedition should technical issues arise, the team will change to 24 hour mapping operations, with CTD casts. Should all AUV technical objectives be met, the team may request to transit north to the vicinity of Norfolk and Washington Canyons to complete AUV operations east of Norfolk, Virginia.
    Use Limitations
    • Access Constraints: No access constraints Use Constraints: No use constraints.
    Publishers
      Publisher information not available.
    Theme keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
    • Earth Science > Oceans > Marine Environment Monitoring
    • Earth Science > Oceans > Aquatic Sciences
    Data Center keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
    • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
    • DOC/NOAA/OAR/OER > Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Oceanic & Atmospheric Research, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
    Platform keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords
    • NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
    Instrument keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
    • Acoustic Sounders
    • CTD > Conductivity, Temperature, Depth
    • XBT > Expendable Bathythermographs
    • Wind Monitor
    • Thermosalinographs
    • GPS > Global Positioning System
    • Positioning/Navigation
    • MBES > Multibeam Mapping System
    • Echo Sounders
    Place keywords Limits of Oceans and Seas
    • North Atlantic Ocean
    Keywords Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) Program Discovery Keywords
    • expedition
    • exploration
    • explorer
    • marine education
    • noaa
    • ocean
    • ocean discovery
    • ocean education
    • ocean exploration
    • ocean exploration and research
    • OER
    • ocean literacy
    • ocean research
    • science
    • scientific mission
    • scientific research
    • sea
    • stewardship
    • systematic exploration
    • technology
    • transformational research
    • undersea
    • underwater
    Keywords Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) Okeanos Explorer Discovery Keywords
    • okeanos explorer
    • okeanos
    • scientific computing system
    • SCS
    • noaa fleet
    • R337
    • multibeam
    • multibeam sonar
    • telepresence
    • sub-bottom profile
    • mapping survey
    • multibeam backscatter
    • water column backscatter
    • singlebeam sonar
    • single beam sonar
    • single-beam sonar
    • deep-sea exploration
    • high-definition underwater video
    • underwater video
    • exploration vessel
    Use Constraints No constraint information available
    Fees Fee information not available.
    Acquisition Information (collection)
    Instrument
    • Kongsberg EM304
    • Simrad EK60
    • Simrad EK80
    • Knudsen CHIRP 3260
    • RM Young 61202V
    • RM Young 41382VC
    • RM Young 05106
    • Sippican XBT/XSV
    • SBE 45 Micro TSG
    • SBE 911plus CTD
    • SBE 32
    • POS/MV 320
    • Furuno GPS
    • Reson SVP 70
    • Ocean Surveyor ADCP
    • ECO FLNTU Fluorometer
    Platform
    • Okeanos Explorer (EX)
    Last Modified: 2021-06-21
    For questions about the information on this page, please email:ncei.info@noaa.gov