PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA
Christian Meinig
Pacific Marine Environmental LaboratoryNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
US Department of Commerce
An Overview of PMEL Iridium Ocean Observatories
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
PMEL Iridium Systems
pCO2 buoyspCO2 buoys
Realtime Realtime Tsunami Tsunami WarningWarning
““Tsunameter”Tsunameter”
Realtime Realtime Subsea Subsea Volcano Volcano ObservatorObservatoryy““NemoNet”NemoNet”
PICO-self deployedPICO-self deployedSurface mooringSurface 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.govwww.pmel.noaa.gov
PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA
Next generation Iridium based “Tsunameter”
Remote or command Remote or command triggered desktop-seafloor in triggered desktop-seafloor in 3 min—migrate of GOES3 min—migrate of GOES
Interrogate for high freq dataInterrogate for high freq data
Capable of measuring Capable of measuring tsunamistsunamis~1cm height in 6000m~1cm height in 6000m
2 year endurance in 2 year endurance in challenging N. Pacific latitudeschallenging N. Pacific latitudes
Cost effectiveCost 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 ChallengesDesign 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 / stableSensors (profiler / met /pC02 / low power)
PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA
Anchor/reel design
Line in a box – random/ordered Horizontal reel Bobbin with vertical axis
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.
PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA
PICO BUOY HULLDesign 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
Yaw
Pitch
Roll
Inductive Coupler to Buoy
Clamp/Motor
Dropweight
Sensor Package
Pico Mooring Line
PICO Single ProfileEngineering Package
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 ServerIridium Bi-directional Server
PMEL -Engineering Development Division Seattle, WA
Future Iridium DevelopmentWish listData Services Provider
– Add metadata,calibrations, GTS,bi-directional, etc
Higher QC on Iridium modemsTCP/IP for embedded systems Reduce dependence on POTSSmaller, Cheaper, Faster…