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Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science (2000)

Chapter: Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups

« Previous: Appendix C: Symposium Program
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
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Charges to Breakout Groups

BREAKOUT CHARGES
THEMES FOR BREAKOUT GROUPS 1 AND 2

GROUP A:

Role of the ocean in climate (session chair: Robert Weller)

GROUP B:

Fluids, chemistry, and life in the oceanic crust (session chair: Miriam Kastner)

GROUP C:

Coastal ocean perturbation and processes (session chair: Robin Bell)

GROUP D:

Dynamics of oceanic lithosphere and imaging the earth's interior (session chair: John Orcutt)

GROUP E:

Turbulent mixing and biophysical interaction (session chair: Tommy Dickey)

GROUP F:

Biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics session chair: Ken Smith)

BREAKOUT GROUP 1

Charge for Breakout Group 1: What is the potential for seafloor observatories to lead to significant scientific advances?

The goal of this session is to assess the extent to which seafloor observatories will address important scientific issues in earth and ocean sciences and to articulate the scientific merit of establishing observatories on the seafloor. As initial guidance for this discussion, a list of the key scientific problems in ocean sciences has been assembled from the recent NSF “Futures” reports on biological (OEUVRE), chemical (FOCUS), geological (FUMAGES), and

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×

physical oceanography (APROPOS). Be visionary! — feel free to amend this list or synthesize where questions appear closely related.

  1. For those important scientific questions that are pertinent to your theme, assess the potential for seafloor observatories to make significant scientific contributions. Please use the following rating for seafloor observatories as potential tools to address the scientific issues:

E = Essential (without seafloor observatories, breakthrough advances on this issue cannot be made)

U = Useful (seafloor observatories will provide information that is useful and important, but not sufficient to resolve important issues)

N = Not needed or not appropriate

In rating the scientific potential for seafloor observatories, please amplify with comments to justify your results.

Please list any scientific questions that arose from your discussions which were not on the lists below.

  1. For the scientific questions where observatories were felt to be essential or useful, what are some specific advances or breakthroughs that you would anticipate to result from seafloor observatory capabilities?

  1. What are the strategic impacts on research methodology that will result from establishment of seafloor observatories?

BREAKOUT GROUP 2

Charge for Breakout Group 2: Which observatory type is best suited to investigate the scientific problems identified in Breakout Group 1?

The aim of this breakout session is to begin discussing the technical needs for seafloor observatories within the context of the scientific problems deemed to benefit from observatory science.

  1. For each of the scientific problems that were classified as benefiting from observatory science in Breakout Group 1, identify which of the observatory types listed below would be best suited to answer the scientific question. Please justify your answer.

Relocatable Observatory: An observatory that is expected to be installed at a site for a limited period of time (up to a few years) and capable of then being

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×

redeployed elsewhere. Although cable connectivity to shore may be attractive for some applications, in all probability this class of observatory will be mooring based with satellite or “rf” communications to shore installations and a communication/power riser from the seafloor to the ocean surface. The relocatable observatory may support an array of devices on the seafloor that are acoustically, electrically, or fiber-optically linked back to the mooring, as well as AUVs and their docking stations.

Long-term Observatory: An observatory which is expected to be installed at a for a period of decades or more. Although a mooring-based installation may be attractive for some applications, in all probability this class of observatory will utilize an undersea cable from the shore to provide power and communications to one or more “nodes” and will support science experiments with power and communications needs not economically or logistically supportable by a mooring-based observatory. An individual node might support a range of devices, such as remotely deployed seafloor systems and AUV docking stations. A permanent observatory might have a large number of nodes.

Global/Basin-Scale Observatory Network: An observatory designed to provide basin or global-scale coverage through a network of observatory nodes. The individual nodes might be mooring or cable-based. Many more advanced options might also be a part of such an observatory. These include the incorporation of long-endurance mobile vehicles to augment the Eulerian network with Lagrangian and additional Eulerian observations at locations at a distance from the main node.

  1. While completing task 1 above, keep in mind the following questions and comment on those that you feel are appropriate.

    • What would be the distribution of sites required to address scientific problems within the overall theme assigned to your group?

    • What would be the optimal frequency for data collection in order to characterize the events being investigated?

    • What would be the scientific approach if the event in question turns out to be non-periodic? What strategies can be employed to best guarantee that this event can be studied?

    • What types of data would be needed to solve the scientific problems being discussed (regardless or whether these measurements are currently possible or not)?

    • Would the scientific problems you are addressing require real-time data telemetry?

    • What sensors are currently available to collect the above-mentioned data sets? What kinds of sensors would be beneficial to develop?

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×
BREAKOUT GROUP 3

Relocatable Observatory

session leaders: Keith Raybould and Chris Fox

An observatory that is expected to be installed at a site for a limited period of time (up to a few years) and capable of then being redeployed elsewhere. Although cable connectivity to shore may be attractive for some applications, in all probability this class of observatory will be mooring-based with satellite or rf communications to shore installations and a communication/power riser from the seafloor to the ocean surface. The relocatable observatory may support an array of devices on the seafloor that are acoustically, electrically, or fiber-optically linked back to the mooring, as well as AUVs and their docking stations.

Long-term Observatory

session leaders: Fred Duennebier and Marv Lilley

An observatory that is expected to be installed at a site for a period of decades or more. Although a mooring-based installation may be attractive for some applications, in all probability this class of observatory will utilize an undersea cable from the shore to provide power and communications to one or more “nodes” and will support science experiments with power and communications needs not economically or logistically supportable by a mooring-based observatory. An individual node might support a range of devices, such as remotely deployed seafloor systems and AUV docking stations. A permanent observatory might have a large number of nodes.

Global/Basin-Scale Observatory Network

session leaders: Barbara Romanowicz and Doug Luther

An observatory designed to provide basin or global-scale coverage through a network of observatory nodes. The individual nodes might be mooring or cable-based. Many more advanced options might also be a part of such an observatory. These include the incorporation of long endurance mobile vehicles to augment the Eulerian network with Lagrangian and additional Eulerian observations at locations at a distance from the main node.

Charge for Breakout Group 3: What are the technical requirements needed to establish a series of seafloor observatories?

The aim of this session is to build on the results of Breakout Session 2 and determine specific technical requirements necessary for establishing a series of seafloor observatories to solve the scientific problems discussed in Breakout Group 1.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×
  1. Technical requirements: For each of the scientific themes that would benefit from observatory science discussed in Breakout Group 1, list specific requirements needed to address the following feasibility issues:

    • What are the primary technical capability requirements needed (including sensors, power, bandwith, communication)?

    • What resources will be needed for deployment of the observatories (e.g., ship-days and ROVs)?

    • What are the primary maintenance requirements (including contingencies)?

    • What are the primary operational requirements related to the seafloor observatory in question (e.g., technician capabilities and numbers)?

    • What technology enhancements and improvements will be required?

While completing this task, keep in mind the following questions and comment on those you feel are appropriate.

Program/Information management

  • What would be the most effective management structure for a large seafloor observatory program?

  • Seafloor observatories will produce large amounts of raw and processed data. How should these data be managed and made available?

Educational outreach

  • What would be some educational “experiments” that could be developed using observatory data within the overall theme you are discussing?

  • Often, educational components of large scientific programs are not implemented to their full potential. What structure could be put in place to ensure that educational outcomes are realized within a seafloor observatory program?

  1. Discuss potential scientific synergies where multiple scientific problems could be addressed with common infrastructure. An important outcome of Breakout Group 3 will be a synthesis of common requirements that run across themes.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×
Page 129
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×
Page 130
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×
Page 131
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×
Page 132
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Charges to Breakout Groups." National Research Council. 2000. Illuminating the Hidden Planet: The Future of Seafloor Observatory Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9920.
×
Page 133
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Despite our reliance on the ocean and its resources, it remains a frontier for scientific exploration and discovery. Seafloor observatories—unmanned systems of instruments, sensors, and command modules—will have power and communication capabilities to provide support for spatially distributed sensing systems and mobile platforms. Illuminating the Hidden Planet is a voyage to the bottom of the sea, advancing oceanographic science further through long time-series measurements, to discover the mysteries of the deep that have, until now, avoided scientific opportunity.

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