At-sea testing and final development of the Hadal Water Column Profiler

对超深水柱中的混合、循环、化学性质和生物群落知之甚少，沃茨深度超过6500米。 已经进行的少数测量表明，超深渊区的水并不是静止的，也不是与上面的海洋隔离的，而是在令人惊讶的短时间尺度上更新的。需要更多的多学科观测来推进超深渊水柱科学。为此，研究人员利用私人基金会的资金，开发了一个11公里深度的额定（能够到达海洋最深处）Hadal水柱剖面仪，它允许温度，电导率，溶解氧，湍流混合，流速，声学后向散射和视频的重复垂直剖面，它有一个小型的11瓶水采样器。研究人员进行了为期两天的海上测试，结果表明，该开发成功地生产了一台功能正常的剖面仪，但还需要进行更多的海上测试，以使Hadal水柱剖面仪发挥其作为尖端科学仪器的潜力，为海洋学研究探险做好准备。一旦投入使用，Hadal水柱剖面仪将提供一种手段，大大增加对全球海洋中采样最不足的区域之一的了解。它将使人们能够首次直接测量深海海沟中的湍流混合，从而能够探索流动、海沟通风机制和中层水生物群落，从而揭示生物的连通性，并能够识别由浊流产生的雾状层，这些浊流在沟渠中可能是常见的和重要的地球化学和生物学。该项目将为最终开发这个独特的工具。在三个为期4天的海上测试期间，研究人员将承担先前海上测试中确定的六项任务。这些任务包括优化“飞行”的数据质量和使用同期的传统的电导率温度深度和声学多普勒海流剖面测量的特点，以评估数据。在之前的海上测试中，使用了一半大小的原型水取样器。该项目将允许对全尺寸水取样器进行测试。最后，由于Hadal水柱剖面仪在深度等级和传感器套件方面的独特功能，未来的研究探险可能会严重依赖该仪器，因此在可靠性，数据质量，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Very little is known about the mixing, circulation, chemical properties, and biological communities in the hadal water column, i.e., waters deeper than 6500 m. The handful of measurements that have been made show that rather than being quiescent and isolated from the ocean above, the water in the hadal zone is renewed on surprisingly short time scales. More multidisciplinary observations are needed to advance hadal water column science. To that end the researchers, using private foundation money, developed a 11 km depth rated (capable of getting to the deepest point in the ocean) Hadal Water Column Profiler which allows repeated vertical profiles of temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbulent mixing, current velocity, acoustic backscatter, and video, and it has a small 11-bottle water sampler. The researchers conducted two days of at-sea testing which showed that the development had successfully produced a functioning profiler, but also that more at-sea testing is needed for the Hadal Water Column Profiler to reach its potential as a cutting-edge scientific instrument ready for oceanographic research expeditions. Once operational the Hadal Water Column Profiler will provide the means to substantially increase understanding of one of the most undersampled regions in the global ocean. It will enable the first direct measurements of turbulent mixing in the deep ocean trenches, allow for exploration of flow, trench ventilation mechanisms, and midwater biological communities shedding light on biological connectivity, and enable the identification of nepheloid layers created by turbidity flows that are likely common and important biogeochemically and biologically in trenches.This project will provide additional ship time for the final development of this unique instrument. During three 4-day periods of at-sea testing, the researchers will undertake six tasks identified from the prior at-sea testing. These tasks include optimizing the ‘flight’ characteristics for data quality and using contemporaneous traditional Conductivity-Temperature-Depth and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler measurements to evaluate the data. During the previous at-sea testing a half size prototype water sampler was used. This project will allow a full-size water sampler to be tested. Finally, due to the unique capabilities of the Hadal Water Column Profiler, both in terms of depth rating and suite of sensors, future research expeditions are likely to rely heavily on this instrument so it is important to build up a documented history of performance in terms of reliability, data quality, and operational efficiency.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.