An "Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)" for sPP 1144 and German marine science

题为“从地幔到海洋：扩张轴的能量、物质和生命周期”的第1144号优先方案（Schwerpunktprogramm或“SPP”1144）的目的是对大西洋洋中扩张系统进行多学科、多部门规模的研究（见www.deridge.de）。关于这类系统的许多工作需要在新形成的洋壳和上覆水团之间的界面（实际上是岩石圈/水圈边界）进行。正是在这个界面上，许多生物学、构造学和矿物学特征集中在一起，使扩张轴系统如此独特和重要。这里发生的过程发生在小尺度上，产生局部效应，变化迅速-界面是高度动态的。从水面舰艇上研究这种动态界面有几个主要的缺点：-船上安装的地球物理系统（条带声纳，地震仪，磁力仪等）分辨率低。因为它们离被研究的物体很远。- 用于海洋学、化学或生物学目的的设备通过电缆从水面船舶（例如CTD）下放的运输时间较长。这使得成像、采样和分析（Eh、CH 4、H2等）既麻烦又耗时，是高度动态系统中的严重缺点。- 旨在使传感器更接近海底的深拖作业的机动性差、转向速度慢和缺乏海底跟随能力。这使得在许多山脊轴线上的深拖部署对设备无效和/或有害。为了解决这些重大问题，需要一种系统，该系统能够在海底附近存在相当长的时间，能够获取大多数类型的地球物理海底数据（测深、磁力、重力等），并且能够在海底附近进行测量。在光栅上重复，也有能力映射梯度（成分，物理，化学）的水柱。这可以通过三种选择之一来实现-有人潜水器，遥控潜水器（ROV）或自主潜水器（AUV）。载人潜水器所涉及的后勤和成本是巨大的。虽然选择了精确的、控制良好的采样方法，但使用栅格型遍历的资源利用并不是最佳的-它束缚了船只、飞行员、导航员等，以遵循自动驾驶仪也可以导航的路线。在粗糙和热液活跃的地形中，脐带缆系绳也可能对车辆安全造成重大危险。对于这种自动化、网格状（但也是梯度跟随）的工作以及对于其中系绳阻碍是一个问题的工作，AUV是唯一合适的。我们在此提议购置一艘自动潜航器，最初用于Schwerpunktprogramm 1144内的巡航和其他热液、扩展轴研究，但长期并与此同时供整个德国海洋科学界使用。这里提出的自主式潜水器是由潜水器、条带测深、侧扫和沉积物穿透声纳、光学后向散射传感器、导航装置、通信设备和海上运输、部署、服务和维护潜水器的设施组成的基本配置。假设用户将部分通过SPP 1144的资金购买或改造此基本包的专用传感器以满足其特定需求。AUV将由位于基尔的莱布尼茨海洋科学研究所的新技术与物流中心提供支持。莱布尼茨研究所承诺提供空间和人员来维持这一飞行器的运行状态。

The aim of the Priority Program 1144 (Schwerpunktprogramm or "SPP" 1144) with the title "From mantle to ocean: Energy-, material-, and life-cycles at spreading axes" is to carry out a multi-disciplinary, multi-segment scale study of the mid-ocean spreading system in the Atlantic (see www.deridge.de). Much of the work on such systems needs to be carried out at the interface between the newly-created oceanic crust and the overlying water masses (effectively the lithosphere/hydrosphere boundary). It is at this interface that many of the biological, tectonic and mineralogical features which make the spreading axis systems so unique and important are concentrated. The processes occurring here happen at small scales, produce localised effects and vary rapidly – the interface is highly dynamic. Studying this dynamic interface from a surface ship has several major disadvantages: - The low resolution of ship-mounted geophysical systems (swath sonar, seismics, magnetics etc.) due to their large distance from the object being studied. - The long transit times for equipment lowered for oceanographic, chemical or biological purposes on cables from a surface vessel (e.g. CTD). This makes imaging, sampling and analysing (Eh, CH4, H2 etc) both cumbersome and timeconsuming, severe drawbacks in a highly dynamic system. - The poor manoeuvrability, slow turning speed and lack of bottom-following ability of deep-towed operations aimed at bringing sensors closer to the seafloor. This makes deep-towed deployments in many ridge axes ineffective and/or hazardous to the equipment. To address these significant problems, a system is needed which is capable of being present for significant amounts of time close to the seafloor, is capable of acquiring most types of geophysical seafloor data (bathymetry, magnetics, gravity etc.) repeatedly on a raster and also has the ability to map gradients (compositional, physical, chemical) in the water column. This can be achieved by one of three options - an occupied submersible, a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) or an autonomous vehicle (AUV). The logistics and costs involved in occupied submersibles are formidable. The use of a ROV, whilst the method of choice for precise, well controlled sampling, is a less than optimal use of resources for raster-type traverses - it ties up a ship, pilot, navigator etc. to follow a course which an autopilot could also navigate. The umbilical tether of an ROV can also present a major vehicle safety hazard in rough and hydrothermally-active terrains. It is for such automated, grid-like (but also gradient-following) work and for work in which tether-snagging is a concern that an AUV is uniquely suitable. We propose here to acquire, initially for use on cruises within the Schwerpunktprogramm 1144 and for other hydrothermal, spreading-axis studies, but long-term and in parallel to this for use by the entire German marine science community, an AUV. The AUV proposed here is the basic configuration consisting of vehicle, swath bathymetric, sidescan and sediment-penetrating sonars, optical backscatter sensor, navigation units, communications equipment and the facilities to transport, deploy, service and maintain the vehicle when at sea. It is assumed that users will acquire or adapt specialised sensors for this basic package to suit their particular needs, in part through funds from SPP1144. The AUV will be supported the new Technik- und Logistikzentrum at the Leibniz-lnstitut für Meereswissenschaften in Kiel. The Leibniz-Institut has committed both space and personell to maintain this vehicle in an operational status.