Buoy Workshop 2016 Summary - Woods Hole Oceanographic

Buoy Workshop 2016 Summary
The 11th Buoy Workshop was held at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Quissett
Campus in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It opened with an Ice-Breaker on Monday, April 18th at the
Holiday Inn, Falmouth, with the Speaker Program beginning at 8 am Tuesday ended Thursday afternoon.
This was the first time the workshop ran for 3 full days. And full they were!
Dr. Mark Abbott, WHOI’s new Director, welcomed all to meeting and opened up with WHOI hospitality
on some of his own past experiences with buoys and moorings as a graduate student. Two Special
Sessions were included in the workshop; one to pay tribute to Dr. Mark Grosenbaugh (deceased), a
longtime employee of WHOI who was active in buoy technology and development, and the other to Dr.
Walter Paul, our long-time Buoy Workshop Chair and leader since 1994.
Some of the presentations consisted of:
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A Historical Overview of Buoys at WHOI: Dr. Jim Irish, WHOI and UNH
An OOI Overview of buoys and moorings and high latitude successes: John Kemp/Don Peters
WHOI
Buoy Ice Accumulation: Katie Kirk, Earth Resources Technologies
Buoy Systems and Projects in: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan
A Historical Look at ADCPs on Surface Buoys; Rick Cole, RDSEA International
Updates from NOAA: PMEL (Seattle), NDBC (Stennis, MS), CO-OPS (Chesapeake), GLERL (Great
Lakes)
Horizontal Wave Measurements from Subsurface Buoys: John Wood, Ocean Data Technologies
Wave Measuring Buoy Systems: NDBC, Axys Technologies
Hydrodynamic Modeling: Umseh Korde, South Dakoda School of Mines and Technology
A full list of presentations, authors and PowerPoints are compiled on this meeting CD.
Site Tours
During the mid-week host facility tours, the group was divided into two groups, Don Peters, led a tour of
the WHOI mooring facilities on the Quissett Campus. Much was seen and many questions were asked
and answered during the approximately 90-minute tour. Starting from the front entrance of the Clark
laboratory, each group proceeded to the Laboratory of Observing Systems and Ocean Sensors (LOSOS)
and also received an overview of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI, an NSF funded project housed
at WHOI), Coastal and Global Scale Nodes (CGSN) facilities and operations. All were given an overview
of CGSN glider operations and then moved onto the electronics lab for a rundown on the CGSN mooring
electrical hardware and architecture. The group next visited the LOSOS highbay, and was shown CGSN
mooring hardware and components. Following this we moved to Clark South’s highbay and were shown
a number of instruments operated by the Physical Oceanography Department, and components from
one of their Modular Ocean Buoy System (MOBS) buoys. There was good opportunity here for the
group to discuss various systems and components with researchers and engineers from Physical
Oceanography labs. The groups then proceeded to the Coastal Research Laboratory (CRL), home of the
Mooring Operations and Field Support Group. Personnel from that group discussed their broad range of
projects and demonstrated an Ice Tethered Profiler (ITP) deployment system.
In parallel, due to large amount of attendees this year and the need for two groups; Rick Cole took the
other half of attendees down the Blake Laboratories, in the Village, and visited the Deep Sea
Submergence Group (DSL). The DSL’s mission is to further human understanding of the deep-sea floor
by developing systems for remote, unmanned exploration. DSL engineers and scientists design and
adapt state-of-the-art automatic control methodologies to specially designed remotely operated
underwater vehicles for survey, close-up observations and sample gathering in some of the most remote
and extreme regions of the oceans. The latest development is the hybrid remotely
operated autonomous vehicle (HROV) Nereus which utilizes the combined technologies to explore
depths to 11,000 meters. With ALVIN and JASON in the field and unavailable, the predecessor to the
newly designed Nereus was on hand for viewing and discussion while DSL engineers gave overviews of
system projects and developments.
Part two of this tour consisted of a short walk down to the docs and a visit to the WHOI Rigging Shop.
Rigging components, hardware, wire and synthetic ropes and associated peripheral items were on
display for all to see and ask questions about. Even a “pull-test” was witnessed as a shot of mooring
wire was placed in the testing machine and pulled until parted for all to see (and hear, is a very loud
experience, safety equipment (googles and earplugs) were of course used by all observers). There was
also a brief overview of the CRL facilities including the in-ground seawater test tank, urethane lab, and a
field support rigging van. Outside of the rigging facility are the WHOI docs where attendees had a closeup viewing of the new UNOLS delivered RV NEIL ARMSRONG, the newly designed Global Class RV
making ready for a trip out on OOI.
After the tours, all attendees rendezvoused at the Landfall Restaurant down in the Village for the
highlight of the Workshop: the Gala, feasting on lobster, chicken, and other options, with a good time
being had by all. A laptop was also set up in view with a PowerPoint streaming a collage of pictures
submitted by colleagues of Dr. Walter Paul and Dr. Mark Grossenbaugh, in honor of their work and
contribution to the buoy and mooring communities, part of this year’s meeting theme.
Manufacturer’s Tours
Friday morning before leaving for the final leg of their journey home, many of the attendees took
advantage of visiting the following exhibitor’s companies to view and discuss the manufacturer’s
products and bring away newer ideas:
Yale Cordage, Saco, ME
Teledyne Marine, North Falmouth, MA
EdgeTech, West Wareham, MA
Acknowledgements:
Our sincere thanks to all those who contributed to make this year’s workshop successful: the speakers
and their considerable efforts to prepare presentations and share their results from the field; all
workshop participants - with special thanks to the foreign attendees for the special efforts required to
obtain a U.S. Visa and having to endure their long flights. We thank their sponsoring agencies and
organizations for giving them this opportunity. We again thank the Marine Technology Society’s Buoy
Technology Committee for their continued support.
Discussions for the next Bi-Annual Buoy Workshop in 2018 are underway now. Please stand-by for an
announcement in 2017.
Regards to all in the coming years, keep your buoys floating and moorings in-tact and of course, Safe
Sailing on all projects from the 2016 MTS Buoy Workshop Committee; Rick Cole and Don Peters, BW 16
Chairs; Judy Rizoli White, Coordinating Administrator [‘The ‘Boss’].