Static Oceanographic Observations made by the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program at Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory, September and October 2011

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) obtained oceanographic measurements as part of the Office of
Naval Research (ONR) Optics Acoustics and Stress In Situ (OASIS) Project. The objective of this
work is to relate optical and acoustic properties of suspended particles as a function of particle
size, concentration, and vertical distribution near the sea floor. In order to accomplish this
task, a specially modified tripod allows vertical profiling near the sea floor by moving
instruments up and down within 2 meters of the sea floor. The profiling arm was designed and built
by a team of scientists, engineers and technicians from the USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine
Science Center (WHCMSC). To accommodate communications and provide power required for arm movement
and control, the tripod was connected via underwater cable to the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal
Observatory (MVCO), operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). In addition to the
instruments on the profiling arm, other instruments were mounted elsewhere on the static portion of
the tripod and nearby on a nearby seafloor platform. The tripod (USGS Mooring 910) and seafloor
platform (911) were deployed on September 17, 2011 at the MVCO 12-m deep underwater node which is
about 2 kilometers (km) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Divers assisted in the
deployment and cleaned the acoustic and optical instrument faces on the tripod approximately once a
week until recovery on 23 October, 2011.
For more information on the field operations associated with data collection:
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11048
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11051
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11052
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11053
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/operations/ia/public_ds_info.php?fa=11054