Collaborative Research: Seafloor Sounding in Polar and Remote Regions

P.I. Rognstad （UH）提案#:0328252提案标题：合作研究：极地和偏远地区海底测深PIs提议开发极地和偏远地区海底测深（SSPARR）系统，该系统将使海底深度测深能够在船舶很少或从未访问过的地区收集。按照提议，该系统将由大量消耗性的、电池供电的水面漂流浮标组成，每个浮标包含一个简单的单波束测深仪、一个GPS导航接收器和一个双向卫星链路。开发的系统还将包括岸上基础设施，以监测浮标，控制其功能，接收探测数据，执行质量检查，并存档探测数据。pi将开发一个系统，使浮标可以部署在船的侧面或空中。他们还建议，由岸边启用的SPARR浮标可以帮助水下航行器导航，在这种情况下，浮标将通过声学遥测传输其自身的GPS定位，这些位置可以被水下航行器记录下来，以帮助轨道重建或用于实时导航。这一功能预计将特别适用于可能采用无人水下航行器进行海底调查的偏远地区。浮标将被战略性地部署在主流洋流将它们带到需要深度探测的区域，以及船只很少航行的地方。SSPARR浮标的使用寿命将取决于声波和电磁传输的重复频率，但据估计，一个典型的浮标在回声探测模式下的使用寿命可达四年，而作为助航设备可能只有一年。项目负责人设想SSPARR的发展分为三个阶段：技术评估和演示阶段；全面工程开发与平行岸址实施；并试制浮筒。测试和评估工作在这三个阶段中都是固有的。本方案是技术评估和论证三个阶段中的第一个阶段。这一努力将需要开发用于实验室和海上测试的原型硬件；并对声纳参数和通信协议进行了优化。

P.I. Rognstad (UH) Proposal #: 0328252Proposal Title: Collaborative Research: Seafloor Sounding in Polar and Remote Regions The PIs propose to develop a Seafloor Sounding in Polar and Remote Regions (SSPARR) System that will enable seafloor depth soundings to be collected in regions rarely or never visited by ships. As proposed, the system will consist of a large number of expendable, battery-powered, surface drifting buoys, each containing a simple single beam depth sounder, a GPS navigation receiver, and a bi-directional satellite link. The system developed will also include the shore infrastructure to monitor the buoys, control their function and receive sounding data, perform quality checks, and archive the sounding data. The PIs will develop a system whereby the buoys could be deployed over the side of a ship or by air. They also propose that the SPARR buoy, enabled by the shore site, could be an aid to navigation for underwater vehicles, in which case the buoy will transmit its own GPS derived location via acoustic telemetry and these positions could be recorded by the underwater vehicle to aid in track reconstruction or for use in real-time navigation. This function is expected to be of particular use in remote areas where unmanned underwater vehicles may be employed for seafloor surveys. Buoys will be strategically deployed where prevailing currents will carry them into areas where depth soundings are required, and where ships seldom travel. The lifetime of a SSPARR buoy will be dependent upon repetition rate of acoustic and electromagnetic transmissions, but it is estimated that a typical buoy will have a lifetime of up to four years in echo-sounding mode and possibly only one year as a navigation aid. The PIs envision the development of SSPARR in three phases: A technology assessment and demonstration phase; full scale engineering development with parallel shore site implementation; and pilot buoy production. Test and evaluation efforts are inherent in all three phases. This proposal is the first of the three phases, technology assessment and demonstration. This effort will entail development of prototype hardware for testing in laboratory and at sea; and optimization of sonar parameters and communication protocols.