HR: 1340h
AN: OS33C-1492    [Abstracts]
TI: The Quasi-Eulerian Hydrophone: A New Approach for Ocean Acoustics
AU: Matsumoto, H
EM: haru.matsumoto@noaa.gov
AF: Oregon State University/CIMRS and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory/NOAA, NOAA/PMEL Hatfield Marine Science Center 2115 SE OSU Dr., Newport, OR 97365 United States
AU: Dziak, R P
EM: Robert.p.dziak@noaa.gov
AF: Oregon State University/CIMRS and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory/NOAA, NOAA/PMEL Hatfield Marine Science Center 2115 SE OSU Dr., Newport, OR 97365 United States
AU: * Fowler, M J
EM: matt.fowler@noaa.gov
AF: Oregon State University/CIMRS and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory/NOAA, NOAA/PMEL Hatfield Marine Science Center 2115 SE OSU Dr., Newport, OR 97365 United States
AU: Hammond, S R
EM: steve.hammond@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, USDOC/NOAA/PMEL 7600 Sand Point Rd., Seattle, WA 98115-6349 United States
AU: Meinig, C
EM: chris.meinig@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, USDOC/NOAA/PMEL 7600 Sand Point Rd., Seattle, WA 98115-6349 United States
AB: For the last 10 years Oregon State University and NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory have successfully operated and maintained autonomous hydrophone arrays to monitor low frequency acoustic energy of earthquakes and marine mammal calls in remote ocean areas where no historical record existed. These hydrophones are moored at mid-water depth and require a routine servicing cruise to retrieve the stored data. The system is robust, but it is not real-time and it takes up to a year before acoustic events can be identified from the raw acoustic data. As a result, we frequently miss opportunities to observe ocean acoustic events as they occur. A new type of autonomous hydrophone called a Quasi-Eulerian hydrophone (QUEphone) is under development at OSU/PMEL. This instrument allows near-real-time monitoring of a selected study area. It is a tether-free float with a built-in hydrophone monitoring system and a buoyancy controller. It is capable of repeat ascent/descent cycles in up to 2000 m of water. In contrast to the conventional Lagrangean float, the QUEphone float stays in the same area by maintaining negative buoyancy and remaining on the seafloor for most of its life span. While on the seafloor the QUEphone runs an intelligent event detection algorithm, and upon detection of a significant number of events will surface to transmit a small data file to shore. We have conducted brief test deployments of the QUEphone in both a fresh-water lake and marine waters off Oregon coast, and the results of these tests will be discussed and compared with other hydrophone data. Once fully developed the QUEphone is expected to provide near real-time analysis capability of earthquakes that affect seafloor hydrothermal vents and their associated ecosystems. Such fast reaction will allow for a rapid response to seismic events, enabling researchers to examine how changes in hydrothermal activity affect deep-ocean vent ecosystems.
DE: 3094 Instruments and techniques
DE: 4294 Instruments and techniques
DE: 7294 Seismic instruments and networks (0935, 3025)
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005