Periodic Update on Project SCAMP* January 1997 *Seafloor Characterization and Mapping Pod Purpose This newsletter is being sent to individuals in the Arctic Science and submarine communities who have been involved in the unclassified Arctic submarine cruises sponsored by the US Navy. Since these cruises are a massive collaborative effort, we feel it is crucial to keep a wide range of individuals at a diverse set of organizations informed about our efforts to improve scientific instrumentation for future cruises. An overview of the history and the various organizations involved in the is effort is presented on the last page of this newsletter. If you have questions please feel free to contact any of the persons listed on page six or visit the SCAMP website at http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/SCICEX/SCAMP. Marcus Langseth Marcus Langseth, one of the primary contributors to the SCAMP effort, died on January 4th, a few months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Mark made many contributions to science over the course of his career. He served the community unselfishly and did much to develop scientific facilities through his service to UNOLS. Mark was involved with the SCICEX program well before the first cruise on the USS Pargo in 1993. He helped make the initial opportunity possible and shepherded its' growth into the program of annual cruises we have today. SCAMP owes much to Mark's intelligence and insight. As this program develops we will miss his company, his enthusiasm and his gracious intelligence. Introduction Since the first newsletter on SCAMP much has happened. The technical issues are being resolved. No significant technical obstacles have been encountered. While this steady progress has been gratifying we have recently learned that due to a scheduling problem for the 1997 cruise, we will not be able to install SCAMP for the next SCICEX cruise. This is a great disappointment for us, as we had hoped to collect three full years of data in Arctic Ocean operational area. Now we can rely on access for only the 1998 and 1999 cruises. Acquisition and testing of the hardware and software is moving at the same pace we had planned for the 1997 cruise, so in the unlikely event that the ship's schedule changes for 1997, we will be ready. While the loss of a year's data is a big blow, we are moving to make the most of the extra time it makes available for SCAMP development and possibly for extended system testing. The additional time will let us phase in the implementation of SCAMP, beginning with the Data Acquisition and Quality Control System (DAQCS) for the 1997 cruise. 1997 cruise Since the first cruise in 1993, the SCICEX geophysics program has had to integrate various underway data streams collected from different instruments, logged on independent media with independent time tags. Reduction of the gravity data requires the ship's navigation and keel depth. To make the most of the stability of the submarine for the gravity measurements, we need to have the synchronization of the ship's depth data to the gravimeter output to two seconds or better. This has not been easy to achieve. Now that other programs are taking underway data (Robin Muench's ADCP; Gary Klinkhammer's ZAPS), achieving reliable synchronization between ships data and PI-provided sensors has become crucial. It will be critical to acquisition of the sonar data once SCAMP is fully implemented in 1998 as well. Recognizing the need for a systematization of the data logging capabilities for the remaining SCICEX cruises, Odile de la Beaugardiere (program manager at OPP) has recognized the importance of time synchronization and asked Chayes to work with the Arctic Submarine Lab and the funded PI's for the 1997 to develop a plan of action. Hardware for the DAQCS (Figure 1; two computers and peripherals) could be acquired in the next few months. Two workstations will provide a completely redundant data acquisition capability while underway. The DAQCS will permit near real-time data validation and systematic back-up of all data while underway. To make the most of the DAQCS for the SCICEX program, Dale Chayes (Leader for the development of SCAMP) and Bernie Coakley have been soliciting input from the PI's funded for the 1997 cruise on how best to provide them with ship's time, position and orientation data for their data sets. In addition to logging and processing all the ship's positional and orientation information, the DAQCS can offer two services to PI's collecting underway data with their own sensors. The PI's could chose to provide the data to the DAQCS directly, where it will be time tagged, written to disc and backed-up to tape each day. This process permits error checking and quality control while underway and helps rapidly isolate hardware malfunctions. The PI could instead chose to be provided with time of day for their independent logging device. This would permit post-cruise data integration to proceed without first having to establish time synchronization between the various devices. Either approach offers substantial benefits to the PI. All data logged with the DAQCS will be released to the appropriate PIÕs as soon as it is declassified by the Navy. Post-cruise uncertainty about ship's depth and position has complicated interpretation of water samples collected during SCICEX. In addition to servicing underway data gathering, we hope to provide an event logging/label making facility integrated with the sample port in the torpedo room. We are evaluating the installation of a button that would sample the ship's position, depth and orientation (as well as other data streams desired by PI's) and write the desired data to an event log. A coded label could be automatically printed for each sample or event. This would eliminate the uncertainty in sample location. We are currently soliciting PI input to develop an initial plan that meets the needs of the SCICEX investigators. The initial plan will be discussed at the first planning meeting for the 1997 cruise to be held in Santa Fe around the time of the ASLO meeting. While this is not what we had hoped for 1997, it will put us in a stronger position for 1998. With the addition of the HMRG software for the SSBS and the ODEC provided software for the HRSP and some additional cabling, the DAQCS will be ready to go. Monthly design review meetings Monthly working sessions, attended by representatives from LDEO, HawaiÕi Mapping Research Group (HMRG), the Arctic Submarine Lab (ASL) and Alliant Techsystems (ATK), were held at ATK in September and at LDEO in October and November. All parties involved with SCAMP development and implementation have been represented at these meetings. These monthly face- to-face encounters have provided a forum for coordinating hardware and software development, ensuring that we are working under common constraints towards a common goal. By incorporating the input of all the SCAMP groups into the design at each step, we have made substantial improvements to SCAMP and avoided significant bottlenecks. Swath Sidescan Bathymetric Sonar (SSBS) During the course of these meetings and the evolution of the Interface Control Document a series of hardware and software issues have been resolved, which have resulted in the SSBS being more reliable and better adapted to the submarine and the Arctic conditions that will be encountered. The initial meeting focused on the results of array design, the initial hardware and software partitioning proposed by ATK and the acquisition process. The array design has been finalized. It will be composed of 5 sub- arrays each made up of 4 rows of seven transducers (Figure 2), giving 140 transducers per side. The total length of the combined array elements will be about 167Ó. Beam forming on transmit and receive will be implemented to optimize performance under the ice canopy. The design was also evaluated for the possibility of single-point failures. This process has resulted in separate pressure cases for the Port and Starboard outboard electronics and independent junction boxes for each side. Partitioning Port and Starboard electronics into separate pressure cases results in three 30" long pressure cases which will make handling and installation much simpler than the initial design which utilized only two longer cases for the outboard electronics. The Purchase Order with ATK was finalized at the end of September. This PO includes a series of acceptance tests and a phased payment schedule, contingent on satisfactory completion of each test. ATK ordered the ceramics for the transducers, the longest lead time acquisition for fabrication of the transducer arrays, in parallel with the negotiations for the PO.. As the hardware issues have been resolved, the focus has turned increasingly to software and developing a specification for data transfer from ATKÕs data acquisition code to HMRGÕs mature real time data logging and display code. The data specification is sufficiently advanced that Roger Davis (HMRG) and Dale Chayes will spend January 6th to the 9th in Mukilteo, Washington testing the compatibility of HMRG code with ATKÕs code. Figure 2 - Array Module Dimensions The arrays on each side will be composed of five of these modules, making for a total of 140 transducers in four rows on each side. Four rows will permit transmit and receive beam forming which will improve discrimination against returns from the underside of the overlying pack ice and projecting ice ridges. Dimensions are in cm (+ 0.1 cm). Transducer Pod Design The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (APL) is working with us to develop the conceptual design for the transducer pod which will be attached to the underside of the hull. APL has extensive experience with design, approval and implementation of installations of this type. Their experience, applied to the SCAMP system, will help ensure a successful installation. Our initial concept was a single pod attached to the underside of the hull via clamps that grab the flood grates at the bottom of the ballast tanks. Due to the size of the SSBS arrays and the limited space on the underside of the hull, this concept is not feasible. The current plan calls for two pods, one for transducers for the HRSP, the other for the SSBS transducers. These will be attached to the underside of the submarine via intermediate foundations, which will require a set of Òhockey pucksÓ, small, adjustable mounting points with a central tapped hole, attached to the outer hull of the submarine. Welding these pucks to the subÕs hull will require dry docking the boat. We expect to receive the initial report from JHU/APL in January. After we obtain that information we will arrange a briefing with NAVSEA to discuss our installation plans. NAVSEA input prior to the finalizing the pod design and preparation TEMPALT documentation for the installation of the pods and arrays in 1998 will facilitate a successful installation. High-Resolution Sub-bottom Profiler (HRSP) Talks are proceeding with ODEC to develop a modified Bathy-2000 swept frequency chirp sub-bottom profiler for the SCAMP package. We expect this negotiation to culminate in a Purchase Order sometime in early January. Most of the discussion has focused on performance problems documented from previous cruises on surface ships, performance specifications and modification of the HRSP to fit the restricted environment of the submarine. 1998 Cruise With TEMPALT documentation for the DAQCS in hand and system testing accomplished during the 1997 cruise, we will be in a strong position for 1998. Since the installation for 1998 will require access to the ship in a dry dock, we are working with ASL and COMSUBPAC to learn the identity of that ship as soon as possible. If we can gain access to the ship during a scheduled dry-docking period, we will be able to make necessary preparations for installation with minimum expense. We hope to install the instrument pods in the dry dock, which would simplify things dramatically as well as reducing costs. Funding In addition to the funding weÕve received from NSF through the Office of Polar Programs, we have received support to cover the HRSP acquisition from the Palisades Geophysical Institute and are expecting a contribution towards the engineering costs from the Geological Survey of Canada, through their Atlantic Geoscience Center. We are seeking additional funding to cover unfunded engineering costs and deferred acquisition of spares for the HRSP and SSBS. Briefings In the past month weÕve briefed the Oceanographer of the Navy and the Arctic Research Commission. The Oceanographer and his staff were very enthusiastic about the potential of SCAMP for mapping the Arctic Ocean. We have continued our outreach to the academic community through an announcement in the Inter-Ridge newsletter (attached) and a poster at AGU in San Francisco. Contact Info Newsletter If you have any questions or would prefer to receive this newsletter via e-mail, please contact Bernie Coakley at; bjc@ldeo.columbia.edu or phone (914) 365-8552; fax (914) 365-8179. SCAMP website http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/SCICEX/SCAMP 1997 Data Acquisition System and Interfaces Contact Dale Chayes either via e-mail; dale@ldeo.columbia.edu or phone (914) 365-8434 SCICEX program/ International Collaboration Questions can be directed to either Odile de la Beaujardiere at the Office of Polar Programs at NSF (odelab@nsf.gov or (703) 306-1033) or Mike Van Woert at the Office of Naval Research ((703) 696- 4720) SCAMP technical information Contact Dale Chayes either via e-mail; dale@ldeo.columbia.edu or phone (914) 365-8434