Equipment: WHOI SSSE Proposal Sonardyne USBL Repair and Spare Unit R/V Atlantis

A request is made to fund Oceanographic Instrumentation (OI) on R/V Atlantis, a 274’ general purpose research vessel operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) as part of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet (ARF) which is scheduled by the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). The vessel is owned by the U.S. Navy, has state-of-the-art instrumentation and supports all disciplines of oceanographic research. The vessel works in all the world’s oceans supporting science funded primarily by U.S government agencies. R/V Atlantis is specifically outfitted for launching and servicing Alvin, the human occupied submersible as well as other vehicles of the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF). With this proposal, WHOI provides technical descriptions and rationale for the acquisition of the following OI: 1) Sonardyne USBL Repair and Spare Unit – R/V Atlantis $211,007 Broader Impacts The principal impact of the present proposal is under Merit Review Criterion 2 of the Proposal Guidelines (NSF 19-602). 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. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.