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最先进的多穿透热流测量系统，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。该系统的建造将是灵活的，并与美国学术研究船上的使用兼容。准确确定地热流动对于了解各种行星过程至关重要，这些过程包括：区域和全球范围内穿过海底和在海底内部的质量和能量流动；裂谷和俯冲环境中的火山和构造过程；天然气水合物的形成、发生和稳定；冰盖的流动性和稳定性；火山岩和沉积物内的溶质和反应迁移；以及巨大海底下生物圈的发展和维护。该项目将有助于推进跨学科勘探和发现这些和众多已对齐的油田。该项目将利用已被证明可靠和有效的现有技术，整合从运行数十次热流调查中获得的知识，适应和推进新的技术开发，并整合这些要素以提高效率和易用性。新的调查将利用电子和计算能力方面的最新进展。从而提高了获取的数据及其解释的质量。新的探测器将在物理配置上进行调整，以用于海洋深处的学术考察船和湖泊中的小船。该项目将采用一种新的方法，使探头传感器串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，允许使用更多和更灵活的传感器数量；2)减少导体的数量并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一致。新仪器将通过探头和船之间的水柱将超短基线导航和声学遥测结合在一起；这些组件将改善系统定位，并将数据转发到海面，以便做出关于测量和探头性能的实时决策。建立一个新的、更有能力和更灵活的测量系统将确保美国研究界能够在未来几十年获得重要的热量测量结果。研究生将在系统开发方面进行合作，重点是处理软件，并将与他人共同撰写相关文档、演示文稿和论文。该系统的海上测试将由学生完成，作为一项训练练习，并公开邀请希望亲身体验这项新技术的研究人员参与。该项目将记录和张贴机械图纸、电子规范、处理软件和其他信息，以便作为该项目一部分的进展将被记录在案，并被社区广泛获取。数字化、低功耗传感器系统的开发将为需要分布式或小占地面积传感的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，其他科学研究将显示来自多种背景的数据和解释。该系统和相关研究将在国内和国际会议上发表，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，包括日常使用和系统文档的培训。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。

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.