Chisat I, Extension and Validation of NOAA's REPEX Procedures for Habitat Diving: A Chinese-American Collaboration

During late 1988 NURP had the opportunity to participate in a unique collaborative project with the Chinese Underwater Technology Institute (CUTI) in Shanghai. Dr. R. W. Hamilton, principal investigator of the research grant that resulted in the Repex tables and report (Technical Reports 88-1A and 88-1B), was invited to be a co-investigator in a simulated nitrox saturation dive project at CUTI. THe project was designated Chisat I and was designed as a verification and extension of capability of the Repex method. Dr. Hamilton was accompanied by co-investigator Dr. William Schane, physician for the NURP Aquarius and earlier Hydro-Lab operations. Their participation was supported by NURP, but since the cost of the experiment was borne primarily by CUTI and its sponsors, CHisat I was highly cost-effective for NURP. Chisat I's main accomplishment was to perform additional validation testing of Repex procedures for repetitive excursion diving, oxygen tolerance, and saturation decompression. Perhaps more important was the extension of capability provided by laboratory validation of the algorithm used for generating the Repex excursion procedures, supplementing earlier testing of the tables tehmselves. THis enables "custom" excursion paterns for specific projects to be developed with greated confidence; such procedures are required for some already planned Aquarius missions. Grant no. NA-88-D-UR106