Delivers Six Oceanographic Moorings

Press Release

9/13/01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

S

ound Ocean Systems, Inc. (SOSI) of Redmond, WA delivers six oceanographic moorings to NOAA in Honolulu, HI. The moorings were built to support the upcoming NMFS Honolulu Laboratory Coral Reef Ecosystem Investigation. Two different buoy configurations designated “Attended” and “Unattended” were provided to meet the contract requirements. The moorings were designed for deployments up to one year duration. Each of the six moorings consisted of an instrumented surface data buoy and a mooring assembly including an elastic mooring array and anchor. The buoys will be deployed in shallow water lagoons throughout the Hawaiian archipelago from the NOAA ship TOWNSEND CROMWELL scheduled to depart Honolulu Monday September 10.

The buoys are approximately 1.2 m in diameter and have an estimated gross displacement of 680 kg. The buoys each have an integral instrument compartment that contains the electronics and a battery pack sized to keep the buoy operational for more than one year. The unattended buoys were provided with sensors to measure wind speed, wind direction, barometric pressure, air temperature and surface seawater temperature. The attended buoys have all the same sensors, and additionally incorporate air UV-B and air PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation), as well as underwater UV-B, underwater PAR and surface seawater conductivity. The underwater sensors are attached to a subsurface mast that can be rotated into a horizontal position for servicing or into a vertical position for shipping as shown in the attached photograph.

SOSI’s innovative approach incorporated integral sails in the buoy masts designed to keep the buoys aligned with the prevailing trade winds thereby assuring that the UV-B and PAR sensors maintain proper orientation with respect to the sun for the majority of their deployment. Swivels incorporated in the mooring string allow the buoys to rotate freely in accordance with the prevailing winds. All buoys were also equipped with an internal data logger and ARGOS satellite transmitter. The data loggers are used not only to sample and log the data for future analysis, but were also programmed to package the data for distribution to the satellite transmitters. Additionally, the data loggers were used to control the various sensors so that they could be turned off or put into “sleep” mode when not in use. Similarly, the data loggers are used to control the transmission of data to the ARGOS satellite four times each day.

SOSI President, Ted Brockett, reports that he is pleased about SOSI’s entrance into the data buoy market. We are happy for the opportunity to apply more than twenty years of related experience to use in a new area. We look forward to providing our clients with cost effective and innovative solutions to their buoy needs.

For more information or a quotation on your project requirements, please contact SOSI.