Program Update: Ocean Observatories Initiative – January 2013
The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) program in January continued progress toward instrument procurements and infrastructure designs before deployment.
The Consortium for Ocean Leadership, with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), selected Satlantic LP of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to provide Spectral Irradiance Radiometer (OOI instrument class SPKIR) instruments and WET Labs Inc., of Philomath, Oregon to provide seawater Optical Attenuation and Absorption (OPTAA) and Fluorometer (FLOR) instruments. These instruments will provide measurements of optical properties, such as downwelling spectral irradiance, beam attenuation, backscatter, and chlorophyll a and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorescence for the OOI.
Satlantic is an advanced ocean technology company that develops optical sensors for aquatic research and water quality monitoring. Satlantic’s Model OCR-507 instrument with the Bioshutter II device to minimize biofouling will be provided to meet the requirements of the OOI. The OCR-500 Series Radiometers are fully digital optical sensors that combine precision optics and high performance microelectronics.
WET Labs develops and manufactures underwater instrumentation to detect vital biological, chemical, and geological parameters and processes of the earth’s oceans, lakes, and streams. The ECO Triplet instrument with biofouling mitigation and the ac-s Spectrophotometer with biofouling mitigation will be provided to meet the FLOR and OPTAA needs of the OOI, respectively. The ECO Triplet is a three-optical-sensor instrument available in a user-defined configuration to address the need for multiple simultaneous scattering and fluorescence sensors for autonomous and unattended measurement platforms. The ac-s in-situ Spectrophotometer, based on the highly successful ac-9, offers almost an order of magnitude increase in spectral resolution of in-situ absorption and beam attenuation.
The Life Cycle Objectives (LCO) review for Cyberinfrastructure’s software Release three took place in January as well as a Critical Design Review (CDR) for the CGSN Operations and Management Component. Several CDRs and Production Readiness Reviews (PRR) are scheduled for February and March.
The OOI participated in the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) meeting January 8-10 in Washington, D.C. The poster presentation focused the Education and Public Engagement (EPE) component of the OOI and the use of near-real-time oceanographic data in undergraduate learning environments.
For more information on the OOI, please visit the OOI Website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
