Oceanographic Instrumentation 2011, R/V Blue Heron

University Of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth MN

Investigators

Abstract

A request is made to fund additional and back-up instrumentation for the R/V Blue Heron, an 86 foot Coastal vessel owned by the University of Minnesota and operated by the Large Lakes Observatory as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) research fleet. The proposal includes two requests: 1) Spare CTD Sensors 2) Water Purification System Broader Impacts: The principal impact of the present proposal is under criterion two, providing infrastructure support for scientists to use the vessel and its shared-use instrumentation in support of their NSF-funded oceanographic research projects (which individually undergo separate review by the relevant research program of NSF). The acquisition, maintenance and operation of shared-use instrumentation allows NSF-funded researchers from any US university or lab access to working, calibrated instruments for their research, reducing the cost of that research, and expanding the base of potential researchers.