A request is made to fund new and replacement instrumentation on the R/V Oceanus, a 177? research vessel operated by Oregon State University as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) research fleet.
The R/V Oceanus is a general-purpose research vessel owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by Oregon State University. Until 2012, the vessel had been operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution but was then retired. OSU determined that the vessel was in better material condition than their ship R/V Wecoma so they took Oceanus and retired Wecoma. The mission of the ship is to support funded science research in the Pacific Northwest. R/V Oceanus completed 162 days in 2013, 117 (72%) of which were for NSF. In 2014, the vessel is scheduled to sail 211 days with 96% (203 days) of the schedule for NSF. With this proposal, OSU provides technical descriptions and rationale for the acquisition of the following Oceanographic Instrumentation: CTD System Connector Upgrade $15,300 Multi Sensor Track (MST) Van Maintenance $18,700 HIAB Crane Preservation $19,500 Piston Coring System Synthetic Upgrade $6,000 Transmissometer Replacement $6,800 Work Horse 300kHz ADCP Board Replacement $8,200 $74,500
Broader Impacts The principal impact of the present proposal is under Merit Review Criterion 2 of the Proposal Guidelines (NSF 13-589). It provides infrastructure support for scientists to use the vessel and its shared-use instrumentation in support of their NSF-funded oceanographic research projects (which individually undergo separate review by the relevant research program of NSF). The acquisition, maintenance and operation of shared-use instrumentation allows NSF-funded researchers from any US university or lab access to working, calibrated instruments for their research, reducing the cost of that research, and expanding the base of potential researchers
