MRI: Acquisition of an integrated AUV system for observations of physical and biogeochemical interactions in the Northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem across spatiotemporal scales

该项目将支持路易斯安那大学拉斐特分校和路易斯安那州其他研究中心的研究人员和学生在墨西哥湾北部生态系统中获得自主水下机器人(AUV)技术。最近AUV的技术发展为水下研究创造了前所未有的机会，这将使研究人员能够研究沿海和深海水域的生态系统过程以及生态连通性。一个综合的AUV Seaglider系统将配备一个声音监听系统，可以探测海洋哺乳动物和其他发出声音的动物；一套海洋传感器，可以根据自然和人为变化绘制沿海和墨西哥湾海洋学的根本变化图；以及一个独特的cNODE成套系统，它提供水下实时通信和从研究区域其他部署的传感器收集数据的最新进展。Seaglider将提供比目前船上勘测或固定站浮标更高的时间和空间分辨率的数据，而成本只有它的一小部分。收购AUV仪器将大大提高正在进行的、协作的和特定学科的生态系统研究的成果，并为本科生和研究生提供使用尖端机器人技术的培训。在UL Lafayette现有的水下声学、生物海洋学和地球物理学研究成果的基础上，新系统将使研究人员在全球海洋观测系统研究中保持领先地位。学生和博士后研究员将在任务规划、现场部署和试点方面获得一套独特的技能，并将处于使用先进计算技术挖掘、处理和整合多传感器跨学科数据的前沿。AUV系统还将加强正在进行的教育和推广活动，吸引高中教师和学生参与。AUV系统收集的数据集将提供关于全球海洋观测系统生态系统的关键信息，这些信息对各学科的广泛科学家、当地行业、资源管理者和政策制定者都有价值，并将公开提供。研究人员将使用AUV技术在多个空间和时间尺度上研究GOM生态系统功能的状况和变化，以努力评估生态系统的健康、可持续性和未来环境危害的风险。AUV收集的数据将有助于开发复杂的生态系统模型，预测物理环境的变化如何影响生物系统中不同营养级别的海洋生物，包括具有商业重要性的鱼类物种和海洋哺乳动物。这种模式对于负责保护海洋资源的机构和决策者以及负责以最可持续的方式恢复和保护海洋和沿海生境的机构和决策者来说是必要的。数据将被用来理解：海洋生物分布、行为和应激反应的驱动因素；海洋声景的演变；浮游植物和浮游动物的动态；污染物的去向和影响；海底滑坡动力学和海啸风险评估；以及环境变化，包括海洋酸化和缺氧。数据还将为全球海洋观测系统中的生物连通性和生态系统中的重要相互联系提供新的视角。这些数据集将推进对全球海洋观测系统生态系统中自然和人类驱动的变化的观察、解释和预测，并将有助于推进当前的生态系统动态和人口趋势模型。这些数据将有助于近乎实时地监测与极端天气事件相关的风险，以确保工业作业、沿海社区和海洋资源的安全。参与海洋资源保护和沿海恢复的许多联邦和州机构和其他利益攸关方需要更完整的资料，说明墨西哥湾北部的短期和长期连通性，以及沿海恢复行动和工业活动如何在各种空间和时间尺度上影响海洋。这些最终用户将受益于从新系统收集的信息中获得的研究结果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project will support researchers and students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and other research centers across Louisiana in acquiring Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) ecosystem. Recent technological developments in AUVs have created unprecedented opportunities for underwater research, which will allow researchers to study ecosystem processes, as well as ecological connectivity, in both coastal and deep ocean waters. An integrated AUV Seaglider system will be equipped with a sound listening system, which allows for detection of marine mammals and other sound-emitting animals; a suite of oceanographic sensors, which allow for mapping of fundamental changes in coastal and Gulf oceanography as a function of both natural and human-caused changes; and a unique cNODE Package, which provides the latest advancements in underwater real-time communication and data harvesting from other deployed sensors in the study area. Seagliders will provide data of higher resolution in time and space than currently possible with shipboard surveys or fixed-station buoys at a fraction of the costs. Acquisition of the AUV instrumentation will considerably enhance the outcomes of ongoing, collaborative and discipline-specific ecosystem research and provide training for undergraduate and graduate students to use cutting-edge robotic technologies. Building on existing research excellence in underwater acoustics, biological oceanography, and geophysics at UL Lafayette, the new system will allow researchers to maintain a leading role in GoM research. Students and postdoctoral fellows will acquire a unique set of skills in mission planning, field deployment and piloting, and will be at the forefront of mining, processing and integrating multi-sensor cross-disciplinary data using advanced computational techniques. The AUV system will also enhance ongoing educational and outreach initiatives engaging high-school teachers and students. The datasets collected by the AUV system will provide critical information about the GoM ecosystem that is of value to a broad community of scientists across disciplines, local industry, resource managers, and policy-makers, and will be made publicly available. The researchers will use AUV technology to study status of and changes in ecosystem function of the GoM across multiple spatial and temporal scales in an effort to assess ecosystem health, sustainability, and risk of future environmental hazards. The data collected by AUVs will assist in developing complex ecosystem models predicting how alterations to the physical environment affect marine organisms at different trophic levels in the biological system, including commercially-important fish species and marine mammals. Such models are necessary for agencies and decision-makers in charge of protecting marine resources as well as those that are charged with restoring and preserving marine and coastal habitats in the most sustainable fashion. Data will be used to understand: drivers of marine organism distributions, behavior, and stress responses; the evolution of ocean soundscapes; phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics; contaminant fate and effects; submarine landslide dynamics and tsunami risk assessment; and environmental change, including ocean acidification and hypoxia. Data will also provide a new perspective on the biological connectivity in the GoM and important interconnections in the ecosystem. These datasets will advance observations, interpretations, and predictions of both naturally and anthropogenically-driven changes in the GoM ecosystem and will aid in advancing current models of ecosystem dynamics and population trends. These data will contribute to monitoring risks associated with extreme weather events in near real-time to assure safety of industrial operations, coastal communities, and marine resources. The many federal and state agencies and other stakeholders involved in the protection of marine resources and engaged in coastal restoration require more complete information on short- and long-range connectivity of the northern Gulf of Mexico and on how coastal restoration actions and industrial activities are affecting oceans across a variety of spatial and temporal scales. These end-users will benefit from research results derived from the information collected by the new system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.