Oceanographic Instrumentation

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A request is made to fund additional and back-up instrumentation for the R/V Hugh R Sharp, a 146 foot Regional research vessel operated as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) research fleet. The R/V Hugh R Sharp is a state-of-the-art, coastal research vessel that is owned and operated by the University of Delaware. The vessel can carry fourteen to twenty scientists on cruises up to eighteen days in duration, and supports projects from all disciplines of oceanography. The vessel is a regional asset, serving researchers from many institutions throughout the mid-Atlantic. The vessel typically operates in the coastal waters from Long Island, New York, to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as well as the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. Projects occasionally require the vessel to work as far north as the Gulf of Maine, as far south as Florida, and as far offshore as Bermuda. In 2011, the R/V Hugh R Sharp completed 202 days at sea. NSF funded projects accounted for 57% of the total sailing schedule. In 2012, R/V Hugh R Sharp is scheduled for 196 days with NSF days accounting for 47% of the total sailing schedule.Oceanographic instrumentation requested in this proposal includes: 1) Scanfish Update and Refurbishment $113,9202) Portable Tension Shackles (2) $18,972 3) LOPC Feasibility Test $15,300 TOTAL $148,192Broader Impacts: The principal impact of the present proposal is under criterion two, providing infrastructure support for scientists to use the vessel and its shared-use instrumentation in support of their NSF-funded oceanographic research projects (which individually undergo separate review by the relevant research program of NSF). The acquisition, maintenance and operation of shared-use instrumentation allows NSF-funded researchers from any US university or lab access to working, calibrated instruments for their research, reducing the cost of that research, and expanding the base of potential researchers.