Collaborative Research: A state-of-the-art marine heat flow probe to Advance Interdisciplinary Research by the U.S. Academic Community

该项目旨在开发一种先进的多穿透式热流测量系统，可用于深海和浅水（如湖泊和沿海地区），包括机械、电子、软件和文档。该系统将具有灵活性，并与美国学术研究船兼容。准确测定地热热流对于了解各种行星过程至关重要，包括：区域和全球海底和海底内部的质量和能量流动；裂谷和俯冲背景下的火山和构造作用；天然气水合物的形成、赋存和稳定性；冰盖的流动性和稳定性；火山岩和沉积物中的溶质和反应输运；以及一个巨大的海底生物圈的发展和维护。该项目将有助于推进跨学科的探索和发现这些领域和许多相关领域。该项目将利用已被证明强大和有效的现有技术，结合从运行数十次热流调查中获得的知识，适应和推进新技术的发展，并整合这些元素以提高效率和易用性。新的探测器将利用电子和计算能力的最新进展。从而提高所获得数据的质量及其解释。这种新型探测器的物理结构是可调节的，可以在海洋深处的学术研究船上使用，也可以在湖泊中的小船上使用。该项目将采用探针传感器串的新方法，通过通信总线将数字数据发送回数据记录器。这种设计的优点包括：1)根据科学目标，允许使用更多、更灵活的传感器数量；2)减少导体的数量，简化与记录仪的连接；3)使传感器组件的热响应沿其长度更加一致。新仪器将通过探测器和船舶之间的水柱整合超短基线导航和声学遥测；这些组件将改善系统定位，并将数据中继到地面，以便对测量和探头性能进行实时决策。建立一个新的，更有能力和灵活的测量系统将确保美国研究界能够在未来几十年内获得重要的热测量。研究生将参与系统开发，重点是处理软件，并将共同撰写相关文档，演示文稿和论文。该系统的海上测试将由学生完成，作为一项训练演习，并公开呼吁想要亲身体验新技术的研究人员参与。该项目将记录和发布机械图纸、电子规格、处理软件和其他信息，以便作为该项目的一部分取得的进展将被记录在案，并广泛供社区使用。数字、低功耗传感器系统的发展将为需要分布式或小足迹传感的地方实现新的传感应用创造机会。文件将包括至少一篇介绍新系统的研究论文，另外的科学研究将展示来自许多环境的数据和解释。该系统和相关研究将在国内和国际会议上提出，并成为学生论文章节的一部分。该工作系统将通过美国海洋热流能力提供使用，包括常规使用培训和系统文件。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。

This project is to develop a state-of-the-art, multi-penetration heat flow measurement system, to be used in both the deep sea and in shallow water (like lakes and coastal areas), including mechanical, electronic, software, and documentation. The system will be built to be flexible and compatible with use on U.S. academic research vessels. Accurate determinations of geothermal heat flow is essential for understanding a variety of planetary processes including: regional and global mass and energy flows across and within the seafloor; volcanic and tectonic processes in rift and subduction settings; gas hydrate formation, occurrence, and stability; the mobility and stability of ice sheets; solute and reactive transport within volcanic rocks and sediments; and the development and maintenance of a vast subseafloor biosphere. This project will help to advance interdisciplinary exploration and discovery these and numerous aligned fields.The project will leverage existing technology that has proven robust and effective, incorporate knowledge gained from running dozens of heat flow surveys, adapt and advance new technical developments, and integrate these elements to improve efficiency and ease of use. The new probe will take advantage of recent advances in electronics and computing capabilities. thereby improving the quality of acquired data and their interpretations. The new probe will be adjustable in physical configuration for use on academic research ships at oceanographic depths and small boats in lakes. The project will take a new approach for the probe sensor string to send digital data over a communication bus back to the data logger. Advantages of this design include 1) allowing for a greater and more flexible number of sensors to be used, based on the science objectives, 2) reducing the number of conductors and simplifying the connection to the logger, and 3) making the thermal response of the sensor assembly more consistent along its length. The new instrument will integrate ultra-short baseline navigation and acoustic telemetry through the water column between the probe and ship; these components will improve system positioning and will relay data to the surface so that real-time decisions about measurements and probe performance can be made. Building a new, more capable and flexible measurement system will ensure that the U.S. research community is able to obtain important thermal measurements for decades into the future. A graduate student will collaborate on the system development, emphasizing processing software, and will coauthor associated documentation, presentations, and papers. Testing of the system at sea will be completed with students as a training exercise, and an open call for participation by researchers who would like hands-on experience with the new technology. The project will document and post mechanical drawings, electronics specifications, processing software, and other information so that advances made as part of this project will be secured in the record and widely accessible to the community. The development of a digital, low power, sensor system will create opportunities for new sensing applications to be realized where either distributed or small-footprint sensing is required. Documentation will include at least one research paper, introducing the new system, and additional scientific studies will show data and interpretations from numerous settings. The system and associated studies will be presented at national and international meetings, and be part of student thesis chapters. The working system will be made available for use through the U.S. Marine Heat Flow capability, including training for routine use and system documentationThis 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.