An Overview of PMEL Iridium Ocean Observatories Christian Meinig Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration US Department of Commerce PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

PMEL Engineering Development Division Mission: To support the PMEL research effort with innovations in the fields of digital and analog electronics, mechanics, materials, and software engineering. Staff of 17: 6 engineers, 8 technicians, 3 machinists Facilities include: Electronic labs, machine shop, mooring shop, pressure vessels (10 ksi), 38’ workboat S.P. HAYES, hydraulic ram and wind tunnel FY ’03 Support 30 cruises on 11 different ships; 260 DAS Over 180 moorings deployed, 48ea 40’ containers shipped PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

End-to-End Support Serving NOAA’s Missions Science drivers, mission requirements, fund raising Choose appropriate partnerships Engineering innovation & design Machine and mooring prototypes Field testing – Local & Full Ocean Scientific evaluation & feedback Production fabrication and contract manufacturing Web products Realtime data Engineering parameters Outreach products Science & Engineering Publications PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Realtime Tsunami Warning PMEL Iridium Systems Realtime Subsea Volcano Observatory “NemoNet” pCO2 buoys Realtime Tsunami Warning “Tsunameter” PICO-self deployed Surface mooring PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

NemoNet Goals To understand and quantify the volcano’s impacts on the surrounding ocean’s chemical, physical and biological environment Realtime bi-directional Buoy based ocean observatory (1yr) with low bandwidth (10’s kbytes/day) needs PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

NemoNet 3 Seafloor Nodes with expanded coverage Omni directional acoustic modems Bi-directional Realtime 24/7 Instruments: Bottom Pressure Recorder(1ea) RAS samplers (2ea) water(45ea@500ml) DNA pH, temperature(3ea) PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Realtime Web-based interface www.pmel.noaa.gov PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Next generation Iridium based “Tsunameter” Remote or command triggered desktop-seafloor in 3 min—migrate of GOES Interrogate for high freq data Capable of measuring tsunamis ~1cm height in 6000m 2 year endurance in challenging N. Pacific latitudes Cost effective PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Realtime “Tsunameter” Data PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Prototype next-gen “Tsunameter” Data return rates June ‘03- May ‘04 GOES(Sutron) ~80% return (some firmware issues) High power! Not bi-directional Iridium ~95% return (some architecture problems in context of a warning center) Protocol based on acoustic modem experience Will Iridium be around? POTS (plain old telephone system) reliability Hawaii warning center circuits busy during last year’s false alarm PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

PICO (Platform and Instrumentation for Continuous ocean Observations) Problem: ‘Buoy system’ costs are high Dedicated ship & highly skilled crew Complex & potentially dangerous operations Large buoys Limited subsea capabilities Vandalism problems PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Engineering Challenges Design a ‘buoy in a box’ that functions similarly to an TAO buoy Mooring line (one piece / many functions) Anchor (low cost / reliable) Buoy (robust / low cost / stable Sensors (profiler / met /pC02 / low power) PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Anchor/reel design Concept – Store the line in the anchor and have it pay out like an XBT on free fall. Challenge – Prevent line entanglement with line lengths of 5000 meters or more. Line in a box – random/ordered Horizontal reel Bobbin with vertical axis PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

PICO BUOY HULL Design goals: Tough Efficient Long service life _____________________________ Gross displacement: 1020 kg (2250 lbs) Dimension across flats: 1.35 m (52 in) Nominal payload: 120 kg (270 lbs) Construction: Galvanized framework Layered density foam Polyurea skin PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

PICO electronics 332 based CPU Compact Flash data storage Iridium transceiver GPS receiver Antennas below fiberglass cover -no apparent signal degradation Alkaline batteries Minimal sensors for engineering test deployments Profiler – under development PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

PICO Single Profile Engineering Package Yaw Sensor Package Clamp/Motor Roll Profiler will carry instruments through the upper 400 meters of water with one or two trips daily Pitch Inductive Coupler to Buoy Dropweight Pico Mooring Line

PROFILER – The Mule Data from attitude and dynamic sensors and will be sent via inductive telemetry to the buoy and then via Iridium Mule will have a one-time usage – one trip down and one trip up Profiler will carry instruments through the upper 400 meters of water with one or two trips daily PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Realtime Pitch, Roll, Yaw Data PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Deep water prototype deployment April 2004 Deployment from the KOK Water depth 4650m Anchor monitor Single Profile Instrument on mooring line PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Asset Tracker: Iridium Position System PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

PMEL Iridium Linux Server Iridium Bi-directional Server PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Future Development: Air Deployable Surface Buoys? Viable alternative compared to UNOLS & NOAA ship costs Worldwide deployment capability ‘Factory-built’ Recoverable parachute PMEL Prototype Deployment (1/3 scale)-video PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA

Future Iridium Development Wish list Data Services Provider Add metadata,calibrations, GTS,bi-directional, etc Higher QC on Iridium modems TCP/IP for embedded systems Reduce dependence on POTS Smaller, Cheaper, Faster… PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA