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Deepseawaters
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Deep Sea Technology: Tools for Research
 For
over 20 years, NOAA's Undersea Research Program
(NURP) has specialized in developing, modifying, and operating
advanced underwater technologies (e.g., SCUBA diving, submersibles,
remotely operated vehicles, etc.) to enable the Nation's scientists
to accomplish a broad spectrum of undersea research. The goal
of NURP-funded research is to support NOAA's stewardship responsibilities
in the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes, through the application
of advanced underwater research techniques and technologies.
NURP supports scientific research that addresses NOAA's management
responsibilities through a rigorous peer-review process patterned
after the National Science Foundation.
To
achieve success, Ocean Exploration and
Research(OER) will create a formal capability
within the Science Department with dedicated staff to establish
priorities for investment by working with future "users" of
the technologies. This effort includes researching and monitoring
advances in technology made by other agencies and institutions,
academia, and industry. The OER team will also take responsibility
for executing priority investments through appropriate mechanisms
(grants, contracts, etc.), directly engaging in projects as
appropriate. The team will ensure that successful, proven
technologies transition smoothly into operations - an "end-to-end"
technology development process.
Scuba Diving
 SCUBA
diving is an exciting and first-hand way for scientists to
study the underwater environment, and the most effective way
to perform underwater experiments that require fine-scale
measurements and a light touch. SCUBA literally stands for
Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus meaning that
the diver carries all the needed breathing equipment and gases
with them, and is subject to the water temperature, pressure,
currents, and other environmental factors present at their
diving depth. In an average year, the NURP Program through
its Centers supports approximately 10,000 SCUBA dives for
scientific research.
NURP
provides scientists the equipment and technical assistance
to conduct diving missions using open circuit breathing apparatuses
and, more recently, closed circuit breathing apparatuses.
The primary difference between open circuit and closed circuit
breathing apparatuses is what happens to the exhaled gas.
In open circuit diving, the diver's breathing gas is exhaled
directly into the water; where as, in closed circuit diving,
the diver's breathing apparatus recycles the diver's exhaled
breath by removing the carbon dioxide and adding oxygen to
replace the consumed oxygen. By recycling the diver's breathing
gas, closed circuit breathing apparatuses allow the diver
to be more streamlined and reduce the amount of gas tanks
required.
 The
primary breathing gases provided by NURP include compressed
air, NITROX (gas mixtures of nitrogen and oxygen), and TRIMIX
(gas mixtures of Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Helium). NITROX is
of special interest to NOAA. In the late 1970's, NOAA pioneered
the use of nitrogen-oxygen breathing mixtures or NITROX, which
allows the diver to spend considerably more time at depth,
then when breathing compressed air. Each breathing gas has
different properties and allows the diver to dive to certain
maximum depths. The NOAA Dive Manual (4th edition, available
at http://www.ntis.gov/), produced through a collaboration
between NURP and the NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations,
which operates the NOAA Dive Program, offers a comprehensive
review of diving equipment, breathing gas mixtures, safety,
first aid, marine life, and a brief history of diving.
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Deepsea Habitats
 Scientific
divers that use SCUBA diving to conduct their research do
have limitations that can inhibit their productivity underwater.
Limiting factors such as, diving depth, gas mixtures and supply,
weather, and decompression obligations can have a significant
impact on the amount of time a scientist will actually have
to conduct their research underwater. Saturation diving, a
technique developed by the U.S. Navy in the 1950s, has proven
to be useful to several scientists to extend their work time.
Saturation diving works on the premise that if a diver's tissues
are in equilibrium with the surrounding water, then the decompression
time will not change for the length of time spent underwater.
This "saturation" process takes approximately 24 hours and
means that the diver needs to remain at the same depth.
The
revolutionary development of undersea habitats
(also known as undersea laboratories) has made "saturation"
diving a reality for scientific divers. An undersea habitat
is a pressurized facility that provides a living space for
small teams of divers on the ocean floor that extends the
depth ranges and time at depth for the divers.Aquarius resides
in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, at a depth
of 63 feet Divers can either undergo compression and decompression
at depth in the undersea habitat or in a surface chamber.
 NURP
provides the ability to live and work beneath the waves in
the Aquarius undersea laboratory (right), the only undersea
habitat in the world devoted to science. The habitat, owned
by NOAA and operated by the Southeastern & Gulf of Mexico
center, is located three miles off Key Largo in 20 m (64 ft)
at the base of a coral reef within the Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary, an ideal site for studying the health of
sensitive coastal ecosystems. The habitat accommodates four
scientists and two technicians for missions averaging ten
days. Aquarius successfully supported 80 missions between
1993 and 2003.
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Human Occupied Submersibles
 Through
the use of occupied submersibles, scientists can be physically
transported to great depths of the oceans, far beyond the
physiological restrictions of wet diving on the human body.
NURP makes a variety of research submersibles available. The
Pisces IV and Pisces V (left) are operated by the Hawaii &
West Pacific regional center. Both subs carry a pilot and
two scientists. They are capable of diving to 2000 meters.
The submersible is custom equipped to accommodate a variety
of mission requirements. Standard gear includes external video
and still cameras, two hydraulic manipulator arms, a CTD profiler
and color sonar. Pisces V's mother ship is the 220 ft. RV
Ka'imikai-o-Kanaloa (RV KOK).
JSL
is owned and operated by the Harbor Branch Oceanogra0-pphic
Institution (HBOI) and leased to NURP scientists. With
its fish bowl acrylic sphere, two scientists can make observations
and conduct experiments at 920 m (3,000 ft) while inside the
Johnson-Sea-Link (JSL) submersible.
 The Delta
submersible has nineteen viewing ports and can reach a depth
of 335 m (1,100 ft). Owned and operated by Delta Oceanographics,
the submersible is small enough to be flown by plane to research
sites around the world and versatile enough to be operated
from ships of opportunity.
The Alvin is a three-person deep submersible vehicle
(DSV) with a depth capability of 4,500 m(14,450 ft). It is
owned by the U.S. Navy, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute (WHOI) and funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF), National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), and the Navy. Alvin has taken more than 8,300 people
to the deep sea on about 4,000 dives and about 20,000 hours
underwater.
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Remotely Operated Vehicles
(ROVs)
 ROVs
are unmanned underwater robots that are controlled by a pilot,
via a long tether that is spooled out from the support ship.
These robots can be fitted with advanced camera, lighting,
and sampling systems allowing scientists to be virtually transported,
through real-time video transmission, to great depths of the
oceans. The advantages of ROVs include greatly extended bottom
times, reduced human risk, more affordable technology, and
the ability to deploy in harsher environments. NURP operates
a number of ROVs that are deployed from many ships of opportunity.
The program provides access to a variety of ROVs some owned
by the centers, some leased. ROVs have been used to conduct
science in a wide range of environments from the tropics to
the poles.
 An
example of an ROV used for underwater science is the Kraken
(right), owned by the center for the North Atlantic and Great
Lakes at University of Connecticut. The Kraken is a light
working class vehicle with a depth capability of 940 meters
(3,000 feet). The manipulator arm allows the pilot to reach
out and gather specimens and place them in containers for
further analyses. Kraken's suction samplers collect organisms
and sediments. The video cameras on the Kraken allow for high
resolution, wide angle and close up color images illuminated
by 400 watts of HMI lighting. In addition, a low light monochrome
camera can be used to view organisms sensitive to the effects
of bright light. A digital or 35 mm film camera with a flash
allows for high resolution still photography. Paired lasers
allow the scientist to determine the size and scale of objects
underwater. Finally, a scanning sonar uses sound to view objects
and organisms outside the visible range of the lights and
cameras.
Autonomous Underwater
Vehicles (AUVs)
 AUVs
are the most recent class of undersea research technology.
As the name suggests, AUVs can be
preprogrammed to conduct various measurements, video surveillance,
etc. Independent of the surface, battery powered, and controlled
by computers using various levels of artificial intelligence,
these vehicles are programmed to carry out various underwater
survey tasks. The Remus AUV (right) was developed by Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution for NURP's Mid-Atlantic Bight
Center to carry out wide area continental shelf surveys.
Sea Water to Drinking
Water
 No,
don't take us literally! Humans cannot drink saline water.
But, saline water can be made into freshwater, which everyone
needs everyday. The process is called desalination, and it
is being used more and more around the world to provide people
with needed freshwater. Most of the United States has, or
can gain access to, ample supplies of fresh water for drinking
purposes. But, fresh water can be in short supply in some
parts of the country (and world). And, as the population continues
to grow, shortages of fresh water will occur more often, if
only in certain locations. In some areas, salt water (from
the ocean, for instance) is being turned into freshwater for
drinking.
A
promising method to desalinate seawater is the "reverse
osmosis" method. Right now, the high cost of desalinization
has kept it from being used more often, as it can cost over
$1,000 per acre-foot to desalinate seawater as compared to
about $200 per acre-foot for water from normal supply sources.
Desalinization technology is improving and costs are falling,
though, and Tampa Bay, FL is currently desalinizing water
at a cost of only $650 per acre foot. As both the demand for
fresh water and technology increase, you can expect to see
more desalinization occurring, especially in areas, such as
California and the Middle East.
 What
do we mean by "saline water?" Water that is saline contains
significant amounts (referred to as "concentrations") of dissolved
salts. In this case, the concentration is the amount (by weight)
of salt in water, as expressed in "parts per million" (ppm).
If water has a concentration of 10,000 ppm of dissolved salts,
then one percent (10,000 divided by 1,000,000) of the weight
of the water comes from dissolved salts.
Here
are our parameters for saline water:
 Fresh
water - Less than 1,000 ppm
Slightly
saline water - From 1,000 ppm to 3,000 ppm
Moderatly
saline water - From 3,000 ppm to 10,000 ppm
Highly
saline water - From 10,000 ppm to 35,000 ppm
By the way, ocean water contains about 35,000
ppm of salt.
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