Recovery of the UMCES MUDBED Surface Buoy

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The PIs have requested a RAPID award to recover a surface buoy 2-point anchored in the middle reaches of the York River, VA. The buoy was deployed in 2009 as part of the NSF-funded Multi- Disciplinary Benthic Exchange Dynamics (MUDBED) project, as the surface link between an underwater particle settling camera system and real-time cell-based data transmittal to an ftp server.The underwater sensor package was recovered in August 2009. An attempt was made to recover the surface buoy at the end of April 2010, which failed because important elements of the planned recovery system had been cut and because of station-keeping difficulties under difficult wind and tide conditions. The surface buoy must be recovered during 2010.. From a scientific equipment perspective, the buoy with its attached solar panels and electro-optical data/power cable are valuable resources for future oceanographic field programs. The most important aspect of this proposed effort is avoiding potential hazards to navigation. The chain and/or connecting shackles will inevitably fail through corrosion or wear and allow the buoy to become detached, at which time it will swing widely (if only one chain breaks) or float free with the tide.