@article {6970, title = {Scientific Challenges and Present Capabilities in Underwater Robotic Vehicle Design and Navigation for Oceanographic Exploration Under-Ice}, volume = {12(16):2588}, year = {2020}, month = {August 11}, abstract = {

This paper reviews the scientific motivation and challenges, development, and use of underwater robotic vehicles designed for use in ice-covered waters, with special attention paid to the navigation systems employed for under-ice deployments. Scientific needs for routine access under fixed and moving ice by underwater robotic vehicles are reviewed in the contexts of geology and geophysics, biology, sea ice and climate, ice shelves, and seafloor mapping. The challenges of under-ice vehicle design and navigation are summarized. The paper reviews all known under-ice robotic vehicles and their associated navigation systems, categorizing them by vehicle type (tethered, untethered, hybrid, and glider) and by the type of ice they were designed for (fixed glacial or sea ice and moving sea ice).

}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12162588}, author = {Laughlin D.L. Barker and Jakuba, Michael and Bowen, Andrew and Christopher R. German and Maksym, Ted and Larry A Mayer and Boetius, A. and Pierre Dutrieux and Whitcomb, Louis L} } @article {6626, title = {Mapping the Lava Deltas of the 2018 Eruption of Kilauea Volcano}, volume = {32(1)}, year = {2019}, month = {March}, pages = {46-47}, publisher = {The Oceanography Society}, abstract = {

Kilauea on the Island of Hawai\‘i is one of the most active\ and well-monitored volcanoes in the world. Its most devastating eruption of the last 200 years occurred in 2018,\ destroying more than 700 homes and other structures\ and displacing thousands of residents (Hawaiian Volcano\ Observatory Staff, 2018). As is common for Hawaiian eruptions, the lava flows from the 2018 lower East Rift Zone\ reached the coastline, where they produced prodigious\ plumes of toxic, corrosive steam and several spectacular hydrovolcanic explosions. As activity progressed, a\ significant volume of lava entered the ocean and was\ deposited on Kilauea\’s submarine slopes, where it formed\ a lava delta. Through funding provided by NOAA\’s Office of\ Ocean Exploration and Research and the National Science\ Foundation\’s Ocean Sciences Division, scientists aboard\ E/V Nautilus mapped the south flank of Kilauea with the\ ship\’s EM 302 multibeam echosounder to characterize this and other recently formed lava deltas.

}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.supplement.01}, url = {http://tos.org/oceanography/assets/docs/32-1_supplement.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0F2Vvb96e-GHS8GGGbESuK8qoPSHu76O0FlLAKb65smE_OJ8xyNCyUPaU}, author = {Soule, S A and Erin Heffron and Lindsay Gee and Larry A Mayer and Nicole A Raineault and Christopher R. German and Lim, Darlene S.S. and Zoeller, Michael and Parcheta, Carolyn} } @article {5516, title = {First scientific dives of the Nereid Under Ice hybrid ROV in the Arctic Ocean}, year = {2014}, month = {Dec 15 - 19}, address = {San Francisco, CA}, abstract = {

The first scientific dives of the new Nereid Under Ice (NUI) hybrid ROV were conducted in the Arctic Ocean in July 2014 on RV Polarstern cruise PS86, a German-US collaboration. NUI is the latest in a family of vehicles derived from the Nereus prototype, using a single optical fiber to provide real-time telemetry to and from a battery-powered vehicle allowing much greater lateral maneuverability relative to its support ship than a conventional ROV. During PS86, dives conducted in the Arctic Ocean (typical water depths ~4000m) were completed in \>80\% ice cover beneath multi-year ice that was typically 2-4m thick (increasing to depths of up to 20m beneath ridges). Dives extended up to 800m away from the ship and, over dive durations of approximately 5 hours each, covered survey tracklines of up to 3.7km at depths varying from \“landing\” on the underside of the sea-ice to maximum depths of 45m to conduct upward looking multibeam sonar mapping. Ultimately, the vehicle will be capable of both AUV and ROV mode operations at ranges of 10-20km away from the support ship and at up to 2000m water depth (including seafloor as well as under ice operations). During the current cruise, the following major science suites were utilized to prove a range of scientific capabilities of the vehicle in ice-covered oceans: multibeam mapping of rugged topography beneath multi-year sea-ice; video- and digital still photography of the under side of the ice, biota associated with the ice-water interface (algal material) and abundant fauna in the immediately underlying water column (ctenophores, larvaceans, copepods were all notable for their abundance in our study site over the Gakkel Ridge near 83N, 6W). Other scientific activities included: vertical profiles combining CTD data with a suite of biosensors to investigate the structure of primary productivity and biogeochemical cycling in minimally distrubed areas of the sunlit under-ice water column, revealing high stratification associated with meltwater formation; lateral surveys of radiance and irradiance (together with co-registered measurements on top of the same ice-floe on our last dive) to investigate light availability and variability as a function of ice-cover. We will present examples of each of these data sets, together with an outline of suggested future activities that NUI could pursue.

}, author = {Christopher R. German and Boetius, A. and Whitcomb, Louis L and Jakuba, Michael and Bailey, J. and Judge, C. and McFarland, C. and Suman, S. and Elliott, S. and Katlein, C. and Arndt, S. and Bowen, Andrew and Dana Yoerger and Kinsey, J and Larry A Mayer and Nicolaus, M. and Laney, S. and Singh, H. and Maksym, T.L. and PS 86 Scientific Research Team} } @article {5515, title = {Preliminary Polar Sea Trials of Nereid-UI: A Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle for Oceanographic Access Under Ice}, year = {2014}, month = {Dec 15 - 19}, address = {San Francisco, CA}, abstract = {

We report the development and deployment of a remotely-controlled underwater robotic vehicle capable of being teleoperated under ice under real-time human supervision. The Nereid Under-Ice (Nereid-UI or NUI) vehicle enables exploration and detailed examination of biological and physical environments including the ice-ocean interface in marginal ice zones, in the water column of ice-covered seas, at glacial ice-tongues, and ice-shelf margins, delivering realtime high definition video in addition to survey data from on board acoustic, optical, chemical, and biological sensors. The vehicle employs a novel lightweight fiber-optic tether that will enable it to be deployed from a ship to attain standoff distances of up to 20 km from an ice-edge boundary. We conducted NUI\’s first under-ice deployments during the July 2014 F/V Polarstern PS86 expedition at 86\° N 6 W\° in the Arctic Ocean - near the Aurora hydrothermal vent site on the Gakkel Ridge approximately 200 km NE of Greenland. We conducted 4 dives to evaluate and develop NUI\’s overall functioning and its individual engineered subsystems. On each dive, dead-reckoning (Ice-locked Doppler sonar and north-seeking gyrocompass) complemented by acoustic ranging provided navigation, supporting closed-loop control of heading, depth, and XY position relative to the ice. Science operations included multibeam transects of under-ice topography, precision vertical profiles for the bio-sensor suite and IR/radiance sensor suite, IR/radiance/multibeam transects at constant depth interlaced with vertical profiles and upward-looking digital still-camera surveys of the ice, including areas rich with algal material. The fiber-optic tether remained intact throughout most of all 4 dives. Consistent with the NUI concept of operations, in 3 of 4 dives the fiber-optic tether eventually failed, and the vehicle was then commanded acoustically in a series of short-duration maneuvers to return to Polarstern for recovery. These preliminary dives ranging up to 800 m from Polarstern at a max. depth of 45 m, and traveling up to 3.7 km under moving sea ice. SUPPORT: NSF OPP (ANT-1126311), NOAA OER (NA14OAR4320158), WHOI, James Family Foundation, George Frederick Jewett Foundation East, PS86 Chief Scientist Antje Boetius, and the Captain and Crew of F/V Polarstern PS86.

}, author = {Whitcomb, Louis L and Jakuba, Michael and Christopher R. German and Bowen, Andrew and Dana Yoerger and Kinsey, J and Larry A Mayer and McFarland, C. and Suman, S. and Bailey, J. and Judge, C. and Elliott, S. and Gomez-Ibanez, D. and Taylor, Christopher and Machado, Casey and Howland, J and C.L. Kaiser and Heintz, Matthew and Pontbriand, C. and O{\textquoteright}hara, L. and McDonald, G. and Boetius, A.} } @article {5076, title = {Development of Nereid-UI: A Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle for Oceanographic Access Under Ice}, year = {2012}, month = {Dec 3 - Dec 7}, address = {San Francisco, CA, United States}, abstract = {

Abs. $\#$ C13E-0654

}, author = {Whitcomb, Louis L and Bowen, Andrew and Dana Yoerger and Christopher R. German and Kinsey, J and Larry A Mayer and Jakuba, Michael and Gomez-Ibanez, D. and Taylor, Christopher and Machado, Casey and Howland, J and Kaiser, Karl and Heintz, Matthew} } @article {5063, title = {Evidence of Extensive Gas Venting at the Blake Ridge and Cape Fear Diapirs}, year = {2012}, month = {Dec 3 - Dec 7 }, address = {San Francisco, CA, United States}, author = {Laura Brothers and Van Dover, Cindy and Christopher R. German and Dana Yoerger and Kaiser, Karl and Elizabeth Lobecker and Skarke, Adam and Carolyn Ruppel} }