Proposal Number: 1012818 Institution: Skidaway Institute of Oceanography PI: J. Sanders
The proposal requests several Shipboard Scientific Support Equipment (SSSE) items for the R/V SAVANNAH operated by Skidaway Institute of Oceanography; namely portable deck capstans, navigational echo sounders and trawl blocks. These items will improve safety, bring the vessel into compliance with latest UNOLS standards, and enhance science support capabilities.
Broader Impacts: The R/V SAVANNAH supports federally funded scientific research in the southeast Atlantic in order to expand human knowledge of the ocean environment. During operations, the vessel routinely exposes graduate and undergraduate students to seagoing oceanography. Pubic outreach is also achieved through open house events and educational cruises funded by both NSF and the State of Georgia. The SAVANNAH is scheduled to complete approximately 60 NSF sponsored days in 2010.
The award funded several items of shipboard scientific support equipment for the Research Vessel, Savannah, which is operated by the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography. This 92-foot vessel supports a range of research and education projects, primarily in the estuarine, coastal and shelf waters off the Southeast U.S. The R/V Savannah is part of the NSF University National Oceanographic Laboratories (UNOLS) research fleet. In 2010-2012, many separate projects (most funded by NSF programs) utilized the vessel for a range of 140-160 days in the field per year. The funded equipment consisted of: 1) Rolls-Royce ODIM Brooke Ocean 19' metered sheave; 2) upgrades and improvements to a companion sheave; 3) a Furuno FCV-1150 echo sounder that was installed in the ship’s wheelhouse; and 4) a Furuno FCV-585 echo sounder that was installed in the ship’s science dry lab. Following delivery, the systems were configured and tested by the ship’s Marine Technician, and became integral components in the R/V Savannah’s data and sample collection systems. These upgrades have been employed on all cruises since installation. The vessel’s data system acquires and displays data collected from the ship’s echo sounders, as well as from its navigational system, meteorological sensors, acoustic Doppler current profiler, and an underway flow-through system (measuring surface water properties). Real-time displays are available in the ship’s dry and wet labs and on the bridge. In addition to enhanced bottom habitat and bathymetric feature discrimination the new units provide a significant increase in depth range. The new and upgraded sheaves are components of the sheave monitoring system which provides wire payout and tension information in real-time to the operator of the ship’s CTD winch that is used for profiling and water sampling operations. All of these components improve the utilization of the R/V Savannah for a range of research and education applications.
