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.
- EX2102
gov.noaa.ncei.oer.cruise:EX2102_COLLECTION
Other Access | Online access information not available. |
Distribution Formats | Format not available
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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
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Spatial Coverage Map |
Documentation links not available. |
Publication Dates |
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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 |
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Publishers |
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Theme keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords
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Data Center keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
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Platform keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords
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Instrument keywords | Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords
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Place keywords | Limits of Oceans and Seas
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Keywords | Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) Program Discovery Keywords
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Keywords | Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) Okeanos Explorer Discovery Keywords
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Use Constraints | No constraint information available |
Fees | Fee information not available. |
Instrument |
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Platform |
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Last Modified: 2021-06-21
For questions about the information on this page, please email:ncei.info@noaa.gov