A current overview of NAVOCEANO's Ocean Projects Department's roll-on/roll-off data collection vehicles and support systems

Abstract

The Naval Oceanographic Office's (NAVOCEANO's) Ocean Projects Department's unique and highly specialized roll-on/roll-off unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) deployed worldwide are used to collect data and information for the U. S. Navy. The Towed Ocean Survey System (TOSS) package is a fine-scale survey system, capable of surveying in water depths down to 6000 meters, which includes a comprehensive suite of data collection equipment (video, digital images, side scan, and sub-bottom profiler, et al.), suitable for a variety of mission objectives. TOSS is comprised of two complete systems; each system consists of a UUV and 5 support vans. Semi-Autonomous Mapping System (SAMS) is a new adjunct to the TOSS system. SAMS operates within an acoustic tether to the ship and will support high-speed, broad area characterization. The SEAMAP consists of two complete systems and collects large-scale, high-resolution side scan data in 20-km swaths as well as bathymetric data. The SEAHORSE system, NAVOCEANO's state-of-the-art autonomous underwater vehicle, currently consists of two complete systems (with a third on the way), and is an evolving system, designed to perform its mission objectives considering a variety of site specific data collection requirements. The flexibility of all of these systems gives the Ocean Collections Division an essential role in the community of data collection activities that provide the U. S. Navy with essential information.