Streaming Media

Abstract

1000 meters depth during any operation in waters deeper than 400 meters. In waters deeper than 1100 meters or near steep bathymetry, primarily the Sigsbee Escarpment, additional near-bottom measurements may also be required, but not necessarily in real-time. The current profiles are nominally 20-minute averages and must be delivered at least daily to a public database maintained by the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC).

Woods Hole Group has designed, installed, operated, and maintained real-time current profiling systems, both rig-based and moored, for operators in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere in the world for nearly 25 years. Woods Hole Group systems have evolved considerably in that period, emphasizing personnel safety, convenience and reliability of operation, and more useful and readily accessible data products. These improvements have been achieved through modifications to the electrical and mechanical design of the launch and recovery systems, enhancement of the electronics, and custom-built, in-house firmware and software. This positive evolution has been an intermittent process, with customers balancing their future operational needs and requirements against their present capital investment costs.

While systems are often installed to satisfy the regulatory requirements, they commonly become an essential support for daily operations, are used by metocean personnel to improve the reliability of forecasts, feed into the work of naval architects for rig design and riser fatigue analysis, and contribute to a greater understanding of the physical oceanography of the Gulf of Mexico and other locations. In support of these latter goals, in 2013 Woods Hole Group conducted an in-depth analysis of the first six years of the database hosted by NDBC. The study focused on data quality, seeking to remove or correct errors, and on identifying phenomena of potential interest, particularly episodic extreme events.

This talk will cover the design and operation of selected rig-based and moored current profiling systems, briefly document some aspects of the operational environment, which is significantly different from the average research vessel, and present some of the results of our examination of the public data.

Presenter Bio

Dr. Todd Morrison is a Senior Ocean Engineer at the Woods Hole Group. He graduated from Harvard University in 1981 with a B.A., cum laude, in Engineering and Applied Science / Electrical Engineering. He earned an M.S. in Ocean Engineering and an O.E. in Oceanographic Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, both in 1994. In 1997 he was awarded a Ph. D. in Oceanographic Engineering by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Dr. Morrison joined the Woods Hole Group in the summer of 2009. Before joining Woods Hole Group, he developed instrument systems and software for biogeochemical and physical oceanographic investigations and fisheries and medical research for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, several private oceanographic instrumentation companies, and as an independent consultant. His degrees and experience have focused on instrument development, the design of oceanographic systems, and underwater vehicle control. At Woods Hole Group he applies nearly 40 years of experience with electrical and electronic systems and design, mechanical systems, materials science, and software development to the design, fabrication, and installation of complex oceanographic instrument systems to address the needs of our clients. Projects include metocean measurement systems on buoys, moorings, and installed on offshore drill ships. His experience also includes design, deployment and recovery of data collection systems in support of proposed offshore wind energy projects.

Publication Date

9-25-2020

Document Type

Presentation

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