Oceanographic Instrumentation 2007

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

0710872 McDuff This award to University of Washington's School of Oceanography provides instrumentation to improve the oceanographic research capabilities of the research vessel Thompson, operated by UW as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System research fleet. The specific items supported with this award are an upgrade to the existing vessel motion and attitude reference system and a replacement to the existing liquid scintillation counter, which has required frequent repairs in the past year. The attitude reference system provides critical data on precise vessel velocity and orientation, used for correcting underway bathymetric and current data measured with vessel-mounted sonars. The liquid scintillation counter is essential for many marine productivity and other research activities at sea, as well as to detect any possible contamination of the vessel with radioisotopes. Even slight contamination can cause major concerns for research involving measurement of the natural abundance of isotopes, and thus the shipboard liquid scintillation counter is a critical device to maintain the integrity of the research results. These improvements will be of substantial advantage to marine scientists using the ship in their research during 2007 and future years. ***