9730471 Dickey Renewed support is provided for the Bermuda Testbed Mooring (BTM) project. The BTM project deploys and maintains for community use, a deep-sea mooring which is available for long-term testing of oceanographic sensors and systems. The project is has three major complementary facets: 1) technology development, 2) facilitation of the BTM for other groups developing and testing new technologies, and 3) scientific studies. The premise is that newly developed technology and instrumentation should be synergistic with scientific applications. Interdisciplinary time-series data collected from the mooring may be compared, calibrated, and interpreted using comprehensive shipboard data sets routinely collected near the site. Many of the sensors and systems developed and tested on the BTM will be suitable for deployment on other platforms such as drifters, autonomous underwater vehicles, and offshore structures. BTM is deployed near the Bermuda Time Series (BATS) station, a site that has been sampled continuously for over 15 years and provides a rich historic data base at the location. The mooring was first deployed in June, 1994 and has been used by a variety of scientists since its first deployment, as evidenced by numerous letters of support. In addition to maintaining the mooring as a testbed facility, two new instrument systems, SAFIRE and HiROS will be tested. SAFIRE measures spectral fluorescence and absorption and will be useful for optically characterizing and discriminating particulate components and dissolved organic constituents. The HiROS system will allow high resolution characterization and quantification of inherent optical properties. A new real-time data telemetry system under development will be tested as well. The PIs will continue to solicit new BTM users, to facilitate the usage of the BTM for all investigators, and to provide baseline interdisciplinary measurements.
