Development and Testing of a Coastal Autonomous Profiling and Boundary Layer System (CAPABLE)

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"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."CAPABLE (Coastal Autonomous Profiling and Boundary Layer System) development began three years ago under OTIC funding with a partnership between Oregon State University?s College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS) and Western Environmental Technology Laboratories Inc. (WET Labs). This effort was initiated to design and build the next-generation, multi-parameter oceanographic sensing system. CAPABLE is equipped with sensors to measure ocean temperature, velocity, salinity, nitrate content, dissolved oxygen level, suspended particle load, and chlorophyll concentration. Knowledge of these parameters is critical to assessing the state of the coastal ecosystem and for monitoring changes due to natural and anthropogenic forcing. CAPABLE is aimed at fulfilling the need for autonomous profiling in coastal ocean observatories, including NSF?s Ocean Observatories Initiative. The existing CAPABLE system has been tested off Oregon in 50 m of water, demonstrating ability to cycle up-and-down using the electric winch mounted inside the X10 AMP, to compensate for surface wave heaving by software control, to recharge the X10 AMP batteries using an inductive charging system, and to offload data inductively. However, further engineering refinements and field testing are needed to make CAPABLE an operational system. The main goals of this renewal are to 1) demonstrate longer endurance, 2) fully populate and operate CAPABLE?s multi-parameter sensor suite, and 3) test survivability, profiler control and near real-time data acquisition in winter-time storm conditions. These goals will be accomplished by making mechanical and software modifications to the system. A series of four field tests over two years will be performed off the Oregon coast.