Acquisition of Unmanned Surface Vehicle for High-Resolution Mapping of the Shallow Seabed and Water Column

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

This project uses a state-of-the-art Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) for high resolution mapping in the shallow seabed (e.g. oyster and sea grass beds) and water column (e.g. temperature and contaminant levels). Seabed and water column mapping are fundamental to improving our understanding of various marine processes, including ecosystem dynamics, contaminant transport, and shoreline stability. Detailed knowledge of the near-shore environment is needed to assess the impacts of various activities and policies on aquatic habitats and water quality, understand coastal change in the wake of rising sea-level and changing climate patterns, and reconstruct paleo-environments through the sedimentary record. The ability to simultaneously track tagged species and collect data on habitat and ocean conditions will open important new research avenues in fisheries ecology. The interdisciplinary toolkit provided by this USV will be unique within the U.S. academic community. The USV expands significantly the research and teaching resources of NC State University's Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST), as well as the broader marine science and education enterprise in the central NC coast (e.g., UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, NOAA, and the NC Department of Marine Fisheries). Graduate students are able to use the USV in their research. Undergraduate students join research teams using the instrument through the CMAST Summer Fellows Program, the Merial Summer Research Scholars Program, The Science House at CMAST, and programs supported by the NCSU Office of Undergraduate Research. The main goal of the USV instrument and program is to advance multi-disciplinary research and education within estuarine and coastal systems. The USV can easily be transported nationally and internationally to be used as a shallow-water survey platform. The USV is outfitted with an extensive suite of state-of-the-art scientific instrumentation, including bathymetric and side-scanning sonars, a high-frequency sub-bottom profiler, an acoustic Doppler current meter, and multi-parameter water quality sensors. Mission specific sensors include off-the-shelf hardware such as acoustic receivers for tracking sonically tagged, mobile species. The USV and its sensor suite are used both as an experiential-based teaching tool and to conduct basic and applied research in estuarine and costal environments. The USV is made broadly available to the marine and aquatic science research communities by conducting investigator-driven sampling as a fee-for-service facility.