| NSF Org: |
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | March 24, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | March 24, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1419244 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
James Holik
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | April 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | March 31, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $12,956.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $12,956.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1049 UNIVERSITY DRIVE 209 DARLAND DULUTH MN US 55812-3011 (218)726-7582 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
2205 E. 5th Street Duluth MN US 55812-3011 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTATION |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
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 Large Lakes Observatory operates the largest university-owned research vessel on the Great Lakes, the R/V Blue Heron. Built in 1985 for fishing on the Grand Banks, the Blue Heron was purchased by the University of Minnesota in 1997, sailed from Portland, Maine, up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Duluth, and converted into a limnological research vessel during the winter of 1997-98. She is outfitted with state-of-the-art research equipment, has berthing for 11 crew and scientists, and can operate 24 hours per day for up to 21 days in between port calls. The Blue Heron is part of the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), and is available for charter by research scientists on any of the Great Lakes. In 2013, the vessel completed 62 funded days where 25 (40%) were for NSF. In 2014, Blue Heron is currently scheduled for 42 days, 4 of these (9%) will be for NSF.
Oceanographic Instrumentation requested in this proposal includes:
1) Refurbished multibeam sonar head $12,956
2) Knudsen echosounder upgrade $11,616
$24,572
Broader Impacts
The principal impact of the present proposal is under Merit Review Criterion 2 of the Proposal Guidelines (NSF 13-589). It provides 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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The University of Minnesota Duluth purchased a refurbished sonar head for the multibeam sonar system on the research vessel Blue Heron using funds provided by the National Science Foundation in grant OCE-1419244 'Oceanographic Instrumentation, RV Blue Heron 2014’. The original system was purchased in 1998 using funds provided by an NSF proposal: NSF-OCE-9724432 – ‘Acquisition of an Instrument Package for Great Lakes Research’. Over the years the unit has been used on multiple research projects including ones funded by NSF, the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission, the NOAA-Sea Grant program, the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and the University of Minnesota. Additionally, the multibeam system has been used on many class cruises in which undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Minnesota system have participated. The original sonar head of the unit was failing intermittently, making the unit unreliable. Costs for the refurbished sonar head were split evenly between this funded proposal and the University of Minnesota. We had upgraded the top-side portion of the system using funds from another source.
Equipment purchased for the RV Blue Heron is used by researchers and educators that use the vessel. Therefore, the equipment is available to all users of the vessel, from scientists funded by the National Science Foundation to University of Minnesota classes that take students out on the vessel to learn about oceanographic research. The multibeam sonar system is mobile and has also been used on smaller research vessels to collect bathymetric data in the near shore of lakes in the Great Lakes system and on remote lakes, both places that are not accessible by the R/V Blue Heron. The refurbished sonar head was used during the 2014 season on a project funded by NSF: R. Ricketts, OCE-1430015 ‘EAGER- Introducing Early Career Scientists to Research on the Great Lakes’.
Last Modified: 04/11/2016
Modified by: Richard D Ricketts
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