Collaborative Research: Acoustic Instrumentation for Imaging and Quantifying Hydrothermal Flow in NEPTUNE Canada Regional Cabled Observatory at Main Endeavour Field, JdFR

作为海洋观测倡议（OOI）的一部分，PI申请资助开发和连接声纳仪器，以监测位于不列颠哥伦比亚省Juan de Fuca Ridge （JdFR）主奋进场（MEF）的NEPTUNE加拿大区域电缆观测站（RCO）的热液流。该RCO的主干电缆于2007年安装，节点和接线盒计划于2009年安装。所提出的仪器将声学成像从喷口排出的浮力羽流的变化的三维几何形状、流速和体积通量的时间序列以及周围海底漫射流的面积分布。与NEPTUNE Canada的连接将提供功率和带宽，将目前技术成熟的成像能力从几天/几周（ROV或电池供电）扩展到几个月/几年。这一时间延长将能够监测热液流量，并探测从潮汐周期到地质事件（地震、火山活动）的外部强迫过程之间的联系。拟议的新仪器，电缆天文台成像声纳系统（COVIS），被设计为电缆天文台提供的功率和数据带宽的理想仪器，并将适应海王星加拿大第一阶段的机械、电气和软件功能要求。将获得最先进的商用现成声纳（400 kHz），并将其集成到具有中心塔和角度平移系统的定制底栖三脚架着陆器上。3轴角度平移系统将允许操作人员精确地将多波束声纳头定位到羽流和弥散流测量的观测位置，将适应流方向的变化，将能够自主响应由其他NEPTUNE Canada仪器通过岸上控制软件检测到的重要地球物理事件，并且将具有在喷口区域内移动的范围。更广泛的影响：这项工作将为海底热液流动及其与海洋和地质过程的相互作用提供一个实时窗口。这个装置对普通公众和从K-12到大学教育/启发的巨大公众意识和教育影响是显而易见的，应该得到鼓励。对于工程研究生来说，写论文也可能会有一些好处。

The PI's request funding to develop and connect sonar instrumentation to monitor hydrothermal flow at the NEPTUNE Canada Regional Cabled Observatory (RCO) in the Main Endeavour Field (MEF) on the Juan de Fuca Ridge (JdFR) offshore British Columbia as part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). The backbone cable for this RCO was installed in 2007 and the nodes and junction boxes are scheduled for installation in 2009. The proposed instrumentation will acoustically image time series of the changing 3D geometry, flow rate and volume flux of buoyant plumes discharging from vents and areal distribution of diffuse flow from the surrounding seafloor. Connection to NEPTUNE Canada will provide the power and bandwidth to extend our present technically proven capability of imaging from days/weeks (ROV or battery power) to months/years. This temporal extension will enable monitoring of fluxes of hydrothermal flow and detecting linkages with external forcing processes from tidal cycles to geologic events (earthquakes, volcanic activity). The proposed new instrumentation, the Cabled Observatory Imaging Sonar System (COVIS), is designed as an ideal instrument for the power and data bandwidth afforded by the cabled observatory and will adapt to NEPTUNE Canada Stage I mechanical, electrical, and software functional requirements. A state-of-the-art commercial off-the-shelf sonar (400 kHz) will be acquired and integrated onto a custom benthic tripod lander with a central tower and angular translation system. The 3-axis angular translation system will allow operators to precisely position the multi-beam sonar head into observing positions for both plume and diffuse flow measurements, will be adaptable to changes of the flow orientations, will be capable of autonomous response to significant geophysical events detected by other NEPTUNE Canada instrumentation via shore based control software, and will have scope to be moved within the vent field. Broader Impacts: This work should enable a real-time window to seafloor hydrothermal flow and its interaction with oceanic and geological processes. The great public awareness and educational impacts this installation could have for the general public and K-12 through college education/inspiration are obvious and should be encouraged. There may be some thesis benefits for engineering graduate students, as well.