The PI's propose to develop a Networked Oceanographic Sensor Array (NOSA), an instrument frame with a well-defined Ethernet interface that will operate as a network object in the marine environment. Its small size and low power consumption will make NOSA deployable on a variety of existing, and emerging platforms, including cabled seafloor and moored observatories, moorings, remotely-operated/autonomous underwater vehicles (ROVs, and AUVs), floats, and gliders. The instrument functionality will be defined by a set of plug-and-play sensors carried in standardized sensor sockets. The instrument frame will be equipped with a 32-bit processor running Linux and Java, and will operate as a field-reconfigurable remote sensor server. The object-based communication software will allow access to the instrument using a standardized set of object methods and properties, common for all the NOSA-compliant sensors, and the instrument data will be distributed in XML (eXtended Markup Language), or netcdf format.
The nonproprietary, well-defined and documented mechanical/electrical architecture of NOSA will allow development of future sensors by a third party, promoting development of a new family of instruments. These instruments will be easily adaptable to specific applications and requirements, by simply modifying the sensor configuration, while maintaining the generic character of the NOSA electronics and software. The open software architecture will permit an implementation-independent interface, simplifying the logistics of instrumenting a vide variety of observational programs. The first implementation of the proposed NOSA instrument will carry a Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometer (FRRF) sensor to measure photosynthetic pigments and to characterize oxygenic/anoxygenic photosynthesis, a dissolved oxygen sensor, and a pCO2/pH sensor. In this configuration the instrument will measure the most critical chemical/biological properties related to the carbon and energy cycle in the ocean.
