Scripps Institution of Oceanography / Management of West Coast Winch Pool SSSE

The University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) proposes to support oceanographic technical specialized services through the management and operation of the West Coast Winch Pool (WCWP), operated in support of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet (ARF). As part of their specialized service operations, SIO will provide technical experts and management of a suite of NSF-owned seagoing "pooled" oceanographic winches to support NSF-funded research projects aboard ARF vessels. Research vessels in the ARF provide support for researchers from a variety of federal and state agencies, as well as some private sponsors. All users (or the appropriate funding agencies) share support costs for specialized oceanographic technical services equally, via a day-rate, with each paying a share of the costs based on fractional usage of the specific winch system. The principal impact of the present proposal is under Merit Review Criterion 2 of the Proposal Guidelines (NSF 23-525). 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.