A large team of oceanographers is again exploring 'Lost City,' an hydrothermal vent field located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which was discovered in 2000 and named like this because of the myth of Atlantis. But this time, the oceanographers are not on a ship. Most of them are in a room at the University of Washington in Seattle. And according to this article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, they're using high-speed Internet connections to control robotic vehicles exploring the deep Atlantic Ocean thousands of miles away. Thanks to satellites, the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) Argus and Hercules can transmit videos back to Seattle in real time. After analysis, the scientists can move the ROVs to specific areas of interest without having their feet wet. Read more.
Before going further, let's look at some images.
The diagram below shows "how video and data will be transmitted between the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown, via satellite and Internet2, to the Inner Space Center at URI, the University of Washington, and other participating sites" (Credit: Todd Viola, Phil Scheuer, Immersion Presents).
Here is a link to a larger version of this diagram.
The photo below shows the Hercules submarine vehicle approaching "a ghostly, white, carbonate spire in the Lost City Hydrothermal Field, about 2500 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean" (Credit: IFE, URI-IAO, UW, Lost City science party, and NOAA).
And on this one, you can see a beautiful 3 ft high, actively venting carbonate structure resembling a snow-covered Christmas tree" (Credit: IFE, URI-IAO, UW, Lost City science party, and NOAA).
You'll find tons of other pictures in this photo gallery available from the Lost City section of the Jason Foundation for Education web site. But be prepared to spend quite a time: they have amassed lots of interesting stuff on this site.
Now, let's read the introduction of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer article.
It was a maxim with Mr. Brass that the habit of paying compliments kept a man’s tongue oiled without any expense; and that, as that useful member ought never to grow rusty or creak in turning on its hinges in the case of a practitioner of the law, in whom it should be always glib and easy, he lost few opportunities of improving himself by the utterance of handsome speeches and eulogistic expressions
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
Think of it as the Mars Rover but at the bottom of the ocean, remotely exploring our own planet's most alien landscape for scientists back at mission control.
"This is how the science is going to be done," said Deborah Kelley, a University of Washington oceanographer.
In 2000, Kelley was part of the expedition which discovered a huge collection of limestone towers in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and some of these hydrothermal vent towers were hundreds of feet high.
Five years ago, the expedition used a manned vehicle. But in 2005, the scientists are in Seattle, operating unmanned vehicles 2,500 miles away in real time.
Yesterday, Kelley and her colleagues were in Seattle and also "virtually" back at the Lost City to demonstrate how robotics and information technology can transform deep-ocean exploration. What once required dangerous and time-limited manned exploits can now be done by remote control on a ship deck or in an office thousands of miles away.
This news release from the University of Washington gives additional details.
Only four scientists are with University of Rhode Island oceanographer Bob Ballard aboard the Ronald H. Brown, a research vessel operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the expedition's major sponsor. The other 21 are with University of Washington oceanographer Deborah Kelley in a classroom on the UW campus that has been outfitted so scientists can direct sampling efforts and can be in constant contact with pilots and navigators on the Brown.
"Having most of the members of an oceanographic science party on land has never been tried. The approach will provide an opportunity for a much larger number of researchers to explore the oceans," Kelley says.
If you still have some time to spare to know more about this expedition, please visit The Lost City 2005, a site maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOOA).
Sources: Tom Paulson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 29, 2005; and various web sites
Related stories can be found in the following categories.
Geosciences
Internet
Robotics
Wireless
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