Image

Docked and Ready

An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) docking station is prepared for deployment from R/V Atlantis. The dock was successfully deployed in October 2015 at the base of the Pioneer Array’s offshore buoy. The buoy supplies power to the dock and enables the AUV to recharge and data to be transferred from the docking station to shore. The Pioneer Array is a part of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative. Sampling of the frontal system on the continental shelf south of New England using AUVs with docking stations is a critical aspect of the Pioneer Array science plan. (Photo courtesy of John Lund, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)