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

作为海洋观测站倡议（OOI）的一部分，PI申请资金开发和连接声纳仪器，以监测不列颠哥伦比亚省Juan de Fuca海岭（JdFR）海上主奋进油田（MEF）的NEPTUNE加拿大区域有线观测站（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。拟议的仪器将对喷口排放的浮力羽流不断变化的三维几何形状、流速和体积通量以及周围海底扩散流的面积分布的时间序列进行声学成像。连接到NEPTUNE加拿大将提供电源和带宽，以扩展我们目前的技术证明成像能力从天/周（电池或电池电源）到月/年。这一时间上的延长将有助于监测热液流的流量，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。拟议中的新仪器，有线观测成像声纳系统（COVIS），被设计为一个理想的仪器，由有线观测所提供的电力和数据带宽，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。将购置一个最先进的商用现成声纳（400 kHz），并将其集成到一个定制的底栖三脚架着陆器上，该着陆器带有一个中心塔和角度平移系统。3轴角平移系统将使操作人员能够将多波束声纳头精确定位到观测位置，以便进行羽流和扩散流测量，该系统将适应流动方向的变化，能够对加拿大NEPTUNE的其他仪器通过海岸控制软件探测到的重大地球物理事件作出自主反应，并将有在喷口区内移动的范围。更广泛的影响： 这项工作应能实时了解海底热液流及其与海洋和地质过程的相互作用。这个装置对公众和K-12通过大学教育/灵感的巨大公众意识和教育影响是显而易见的，应该鼓励。对于工程研究生来说，也可能有一些论文的好处。

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.