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From April 13-27, 2023 (Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington), NOAA Ocean Exploration
conducted the 2023 Shakedown + EXPRESS West Coast Exploration expedition (EX2301),
a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and Mapping expedition to shakedown the ROV, video,
telepresence, seafloor mapping, and sampling operations aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer,
as well as explore deep waters off the west coast of the United States. The ROV engineers
tested and calibrated ROVs Deep Discoverer and Seirios motor controllers, auto position
software, lighting systems, hydraulic systems, stills camera, high-definition ancillary
ROV cameras, and sector-scanning sonar. Shakedown and readiness operations for the
EM 304 MK II multibeam sonar system included a GNSS Azimuth Measurement Subsystem
calibration, two patch tests, and a speed-noise test. Operations during this 15-day
expedition included nine successful ROV dives, which were conducted in water depths
ranging from 555 m to 3960 m for approximately 45:34 hours of bottom time and resulted
in the collection of 92 samples. EX2301 also mapped 12,298 sq. km of seafloor (12,263
in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone). Data associated with this expedition have been
archived and are publicly available through the NOAA archives. |