This award to Duke University provides support for the acquisition of oceanographic instrumentation to be used on R/V Cape Hatteras, a 135' research vessel operated by the Duke/UNC Oceanographic Consortium (DUNCOC) as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) research fleet. Specifically, support is recommended to acquire instrumentation to precisely determine and record vessel heading and orientation, critical information to correct hull-mounted acoustic current profilers, as well as a Ku-band communication system, providing 7x24 Internet connectivity between the vessel and shore for science communications. Both of these items are intended for shared-use operation. These acquisitions should provide a substantial advantage to marine scientists using R/V Cape Hatteras in their research during 2005 and future years. ***
