The National Undersea Research Program

Abstract

The University of Southern California, through its Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies, in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is developing a new temperate-water saturation diving complex for use by the marine scientific community. The program is one of four major elements of NOAA's National Undersea Research Program. The other three include HYDROLAB, a seafloor habitat located in a submarine canyon in the Caribbean Sea; the submersible MAKALII, with its associated launch, recovery and transport (LRT) vehicle operated in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands; and a highly mobile surface-supported open bell mixed gas diving system operated along the eastern seaboard of the United States.