This award to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts provides support for the acquisition of a rock drill to be integrated with the Jason2 Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for deep-sea scientific research sampling. The drill is being acquired from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), where it has been deployed primarily from ROV Tiburon; transferring it to WHOI will allow it to be managed as a shared-use system, more readily modified to meet scientific needs, and operated worldwide in conjunction with the National Deep Submergence Facility ROV. The award includes costs for modifying the drill to operate from Jason2, as well as salary for MBARI engineers to assist in the transitioning and training of WHOI personnel. It also includes costs of expendible supplies to support one project in 2005, plus containers and related materials to allow future shipping as required to support field operations. The ongoing support will be provided via the MISO (Multidisciplinary Instrumentation in Support of Oceanography) facility, which will provide researchers with access to the ROV drill as a 'third party tool' for use in conjunction with submersibles and remotely operated vehicles of the National Deep Submergence Facility. The drill will thus become part of the standard array of instruments available to US oceanographic researchers, and it is expected to be of substantial advantage to scientists in their deep-sea research during 2005 and future years.
