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3. Suitability of Charter Vessels for NOAA Programs
Pages 21-28

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From page 21...
... Hydrographic Surveys Hydrographic ship operations have not been considered for chartering by this committee because of the following reasons: o the stringent quality control required of the charting process from the data acquisition of hydrographic surveys; o data processing, data selection, and chart compilation; and o the legal requirement to support the product (nautical charts) in litigation.
From page 22...
... Appendix D contains a sample project description and lists some of the ship characteristics, equipment, and scientific instrumentation required for a deep-ocean bathymetric survey. The primary system to record bathymetric data in excess of 600 meters of water is SEABEAM, which is a multibeam sonar swath system that produces a real-time contour plot of the ocean floor.
From page 23...
... Contractor Collected Bathymetric Data The experience of the international oil companies in conducting their marine oil and gas exploration operations illustrates the efficacy of contractor operations for marine scientific surveys. From 1947 to 1987, the geophysical contractors servicing the oil industry around the world and in all kinds of operating environments have probably acquired more than 95 percent of all the marine geophysical data (seismic, gravity, and magnetic)
From page 24...
... The oil industry has found great success in employing contractors to conduct its surveys. Of all the missions charged to NOAA, bathymetric surveying would be a leading candidate for contractor operations in the acquisi lion stage (the processing stage which does not require vessel services would still be handled by NOAA's office in Rockville, Maryland)
From page 25...
... Appendix E contains a project description and lists the major equipment for a fishery resource survey. The fishery surveys are so varied in their data requirements there is no one fishery vessel with a single set of gear capable meeting the objectives of all missions.
From page 26...
... Vessels that support oceanographic and atmospheric research programs must have multidisciplined capability. They must be able to perform water-column sampling, make underway current measurements, make weather observations, collect bottom sediment samples and cores, perform subbottom profiling, make gravity and magnetics measurements, collect plankton samples, and, in some cases, perform bathymetric
From page 27...
... Unlike bathymetric mapping and fisheries resource assessments, vessel support requirements for oceanographic and atmospheric research cover a broad spectrum of vessel capability and size. Open-ocean climate studies and deep-ocean geological investigations require the extended range, equipment, and endurance capabilities of NOAA's Class I vessels, while the near-shore and estuarine environmental quality projects are supported from smaller vessels such as Class IVs.
From page 28...
... To determine the applicability of charter vessel support for specific oceanography and atmospheric research projects, NOAA will need to evaluate charter c r— - J alternatives and vessel requirements on a project-by-project basis. The probability is lower of finding charter vessels adequate to support complex project requirements such as VENTS.


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