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National Undersea Research Program

Progress in oceanography in the past quarter century has been greatly assisted by the development of undersea technology. The National Undersea Research Program (NURP), within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, provides a unique national service by providing undersea scientists with the tools and expertise they need to work in the undersea environment. We equip scientists with submersibles, remotely operated or autonomous underwater vehicles, mixed gas diving gear, underwater laboratories and observatories.

Our research programs cover a range of environments and research topics, for example, as described in a compendium of NURP's scientific studies. Climate-related studies supported by NURP focus in three areas:

1. history of past climate changes as recorded in subsea geology;
2. more accurate ocean carbon cycle models and understanding of the sources and sinks for greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane; and
3. impacts of climate change on marine communities, for example, how temperature rise and increasing ultraviolet radiation due to ozone depletion affect coral reefs.

NURP's science programs are carried out by a series of regional centers around the nation. Projects are selected by peer-review, thus, opening up opportunities for undersea support to all of the nation's science community. Presently, the regional centers include:

• Caribbean: Perry Foundation's Caribbean Marine Research Center
• Hawaii and the Western Pacific: University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory
• Mid-Atlantic Bight: Rutgers University
• West Coast and Polar Regions: University of Alaska at Fairbanks
• North Atlantic and Great Lakes: University of Connecticut-Avery Point
• Southeast and Gulf of Mexico: University of North Carolina at Wilmington

For more information contact:

Barbara Moore, Program Director
National Undersea Research Program
1315 East West Hwy
Silver Spring, MD 20910
PH: 301-713-2427
FAX: 301-713-1967
email barbara.moore@noaa.gov
http://www.nurp.noaa.gov

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