| |
| |
Chief Scientist, Bob Embley. |
|
Robert Embley, Chief Scientist
Science
Summary for NeMO 2002
This
year's expedition to NeMO at Axial Volcano was shorter than in previous
years and so it was particularly intensive with as much science as possible
packed into each day on site. We made 4 ROPOS dives, with a total of 69
hours of bottom time, and a total of 58 samples collected. Between ROPOS
dives we deployed or recovered 6 oceanographic moorings, deployed or recovered
4 seafloor instrument packages, and conducted 5 CTD casts. One of our
main goals at Axial Volcano this year was to install an upgraded NeMO
Net system. NeMO Net is a state-of-the-art communication system that links
desktop computers on land to instruments on the seafloor. A surface buoy
is the heart of the system, which communicates with shore by satellite
and to the seafloor via an acoustic link. We have been incrementally developing
the capabilities of NeMO Net over the last 3 years, starting with one-way
communication from a single camera, to this year's system which has two-way
communication with three independent instruments on the seafloor. The
3 instruments include two interactive fluid samplers (called RAS's) and
one bottom pressure recorder (BPR). The whole idea of NeMO Net is to be
able to get information from the seafloor in order to be able to know
when a volcanic event is occurring at Axial Volcano and then be able to
respond to such an event immediately, without having to wait until a ship
can get out to the site.
More...
|
|
