MRI:Acquisition of Ocean Gliders for Marine Science Research Support at the University of the Virgin Islands

PI请求资助与CTD和ADCP一起购买两架滑翔机，以便为维尔京群岛大学（UVI）提供支持UVI和东加勒比地区综合海洋研究和教育的能力。滑翔机提供了一种无需大型研究船就能收集公海和近大陆架测量数据的方法。UVI研究人员现有的项目将受益于区域海上滑翔机数据。滑翔机项目将为学习物理海洋学、海洋观测以及将海洋物理学整合到海洋科学和其他学科中创造新的学生教育和研究机会。滑翔机是极好的训练工具。通过学习如何驾驶滑翔机，学生们既是科学家，也是规划研究的船长。创建一个动手滑翔机项目将对学生（包括少数民族）的海洋科学教育产生积极影响。紫外线大学的科学家们已经确定了许多研究项目，这些项目将受益于滑翔机的数据，包括产卵和商业上重要鱼类的行为；了解陆架断裂处的温度和盐度变化及其对珊瑚健康的重要性；对珊瑚礁的长期气候影响、内波变率和陆架断裂处的生态系统影响；改进的美国加勒比ROMS模式；研究内波场的能量学及其在区域海洋动力学中的作用；加勒比热和淡水通量的研究；海洋环流和飓风增强的研究；动物追踪与声学；以及正在进行的海洋酸化和生产力研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The PI’s request funding to acquire two gliders with CTD and ADCP to provide the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) with the capability to support integrated ocean research and education at UVI and within the Eastern Caribbean region. Gliders provide a way to collect open ocean and near-shelf measurements without large research vessels. UVI researchers have existing projects that would benefit from regional offshore glider data. A glider program would create new student educational and research opportunities for learning about physical oceanography, ocean observing, and integrating ocean physics into marine science and other disciplines. Gliders are excellent training tools. By learning how to pilot the gliders, the students become both the scientist and ship captain for planning research. Creating a hands-on glider program UVI will have a positive impact on students’ (including minorities) education in marine science.UVI scientists have identified numerous research projects that would benefit from glider data including spawning and behavior of commercially important fish species; understanding of temperature and salinity variability at the shelf break and its importance to coral health; longer-term climatological impacts on coral reefs, internal wave variability and ecosystem impacts at the shelf break; improved US Caribbean ROMS models; studing energetics of the internal wave fields and their role in regional ocean dynamics; studies of Caribbean heat and fresh water fluxes; studies of ocean circulation and hurricane intensification; animal tracking and acoustics; and ongoing ocean acidification and productivity research.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.