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Real-Time Biological Data From Biophysical Oceanographic Moorings:
Zooplankton Abundance

The EcoFOCI team has developed and will deploy a mooring system for acoustic zooplankton monitoring using the TAPS-8 (Tracor Acoustic Profiling System, 8-frequency). The system will incorporate real-time data transmission and reporting capabilities via satellite and iridium satellite modem. This system will send daily data from the southeastern Bering Sea shelf to our laboratory.

The testing performed at PMEL in September 2005 was designed and setup to involve the TAPS-8 in a closed real time system. This was completed by deploying the TAPS on a subsurface mooring, and transmission of TAPS data via acoustic modem on the sub-surface buoy to a surface-mounted modem. The recovered data was then transmitted through Iridium satellites to the PMEL Laboratory.

The mooring and real-time data relay system will be deployed as a Bering Sea sub-surface mooring in Spring 2006.

The TAPS-8 instrument
Closed-loop bench test of complete system.


Subsurface mooring on deck
Test deployment of the TAPS-8 mooring

 Satellite test ouput, Hex, 28-Sep-2005 14:38 PST

 Satellite test ouput, Hex, 28-Sep-2005 14:44 PST

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