VISIONS'16 Instruments
During the VISIONS'16 expedition ~114 previously deployed instruments will be recovered and replaced as part of annual maintaince on the OOI Cable Array. Although 80% of the instruments that were installed in 2016 are still operating, biofouling is an issue in the shallow water and hydrothermal vent environments. Instruments on the Cabled Array include those that measure physical, biological, chemical and geological parameters to understand myriad processes that operate in the ocean. These include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, currents, impacts of ocean acidification and global warming, and hydrothermal flow with linkages to biological communities.
Broadband Seismometer V16
Broadband seismometers measure seismicity/earthquake activity along tectonic plate boundaries where key phenomena can occur: large-magnitude subduction zone earthquakes, localize earthquakes associated with faulting and spreading events, and sei ...
Shortperiod Ocean Bottom Sei
Short-period ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSSP) detect vibrations from small earthquakes ranging from 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz. These earthquakes are caused by local phenomena, such as melt movement beneath Axial Seamount and upward flow of hydrothermal ...
Digital Still Camera V16
Only very rarely has there ever been long-term (~1-year) imagery taken of methane seep and hydrothermal vent sites, yet the information digital stills provide is crucial to understanding how these venting systems evolve and their linkages to bio ...
High Definition Video Camera
The high-definition video camera on the OOI RSN cabled system will obtain high resolution views of black smoker fluids and coupled biological activity at the Mushroom hydrothermal sulfide chimney within the ASHES hydrothermal field on the wester ...
Mass Spectrometer V16
Measurements of dissolved gas concentrations such as carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen sulfide are critical to understanding volcanic, chemical, and biological processes in submarine environments. Carbon dioxide in magma chambers helps drive ...
Remote Access Fluid and DNA
The RAS (Remote Access Sampler) allows time-series temperature measurement in real-time and in situ sampling of hydrothermal vent fluids, while the PPS (Phytoplankton Sampler) allows filtering and preservation of microbial DNA. Thanks to two-way ...
Bottom Pressure and Tilt Met
The Bottom Pressure and Tilt Meter (BOPT) is a custom instrument developed by Bill Chadwick at NOAA PMEL in Newport, Oregon The BOPT measures the inflation and deflation of the seafloor at the summit of Axial Seamount using a precision pressure ...
Resistivity Probe V16
Known as the "Res Probe," this novel seafloor instrument is designed to go inside the "throats" of high temperature (up to 480°C) black smoker chimneys to measure the resistivity and temperature of the hydrothermal vent f ...
Thermistor Array V16
A custom thermistor array, developed by UW RSN Project Scientist, Giora Proskurowski, measures the 3-dimensional distribution of temperatures within a diffuse flow site. In 2014, a cabled version of the thermistor array was installed ...
Osmotic Sampler V16
Osmotic samplers draw hydrothermal fluids into small capillary-like tubing and allow long-term sampling of diffuse and black smoker hydrothermal fluids, as well as fluids from methane seeps. Osmo samplers were installed in 2014 at the ...
Turbulent Flow Current Meter
A current meter (tripod with red legs) measures local currents and temperature. When deployed in conjunction with a nearby broadband seismometer, current meters can provide important data for processing of seismic information. Local currents can ...
Broadband Hydrophone V16
The high-frequency broadband hydrophone may be used to hear noises from oceanic creatures as well as human sources. During VISIONS 14, broadband hydrophones were installed at the Endurance offshore benthic package (LJ01C), nearshore b ...
Low Frequency Hydrophone V16
Part of this detection and monitoring of seismic events will be provided by low-frequency hydrophones (2 Hz to 20 KHz) that are well suited to detect the hydroacoustic tertiary phase of T waves of oceanic earthquakes. These sensors also de ...
Horizontal Electrometer Pres
The Horizontal Electrometer-Pressure-Inverted Echosounder (HPIES) is an instrument that utilizes a bottom pressure sensor, a 12-kHz inverted echosounder and a horizontal electrometer to measure the horizontal electrical field, the bottom pressur ...
Optical Attenuation Sensor V
Optical absorption and attenuation instruments allows total scattering to be derived for living and detrital particles in the ocean. This model is the WET Labs AC-S instrument. During VISIONS '14, optical attenuation sensors were ...
Benthic Flow Meter V16
The benthic flow meter measures the velocity of fluids flowing into and out of the seafloor at methane seep sites, which is critical to determining the amount (flux) of methane, hydrogen sulfide, and other gases that are emitted into the overlyi ...
Seafloor Pressure Sensor V16
Real-time measurements provided by seafloor pressure sensors are of great importance because lunar tides, storms, and tsunamis strongly impact pressures at the seafloor and the flow of fluids into and out of the oceanic crust. In 2014 ...
Acoustic Doppler Current Pro
An Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) provides a 3D water-current velocity for a small volume of the overlying water column by making very high-frequency acoustic (75- to 600-kHz) doppler shift measurements. ...
Benthic Experiment Package V
The Benthic Experiment Package (BEP) is composed of a hazard-resistant frame, the inside of which hosts an UW-APL-designed Low Power communications housing, and a variety of sensors to measure oceanographic properties that include acidity (pH), ...
Dissolved Oxygen Sensor V16
Dissolved oxygen is the most well-known gas in ocean waters, because several types of sensors are commercially available. These include membrane Clark-type cells and optode sensors. The OOI program uses both types of oxygen sensors o ...
CTD: Conductivity, Temperatu
A CTD is an instrument used to determine how conductivity (C) and temperature (T) measurements in the ocean vary relative to depth (D) and is a primary tool for measuring physical properties of the ocean. Salinity is determined from electr ...
