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Hearing on Ocean Exploration and Ocean Observations
Testimony of
Dr. Rita R. Colwell, Director
National Science Foundation
Before the House Committees on Resources and Science
July 12, 2001
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, I appreciate
the opportunity to testify today on ocean exploration
and ocean observations, activities in which the National
Science Foundation plays an important role. These
are areas in which many agencies, as well as the academic
community and private sector, have a substantial interest
and it is a pleasure to be here with Admiral Lautenbacher,
Admiral Cohen, and Mr. Gudes.
For generations, the search for knowledge and understanding
of the oceans has captivated the human imagination.
It will continue to do so for generations to come.
But it is quite clear that our generation has a tremendous
opportunity, and a keen responsibility, to fuel discovery
in this realm. Technological and computational advances,
as well as fundamental breakthroughs in understanding,
are transforming the ocean sciences. At the same time,
we are becoming increasingly aware of the economic,
public health, and environmental significance of our
oceans. Ocean exploration and the potential implementation
of an integrated ocean observing system are two areas
that can advance discovery.
EXPLORATION
NSF funds basic research and education in ocean sciences,
and the facilities and instruments necessary to gain
access to the oceans, from the surface to deep in
the seafloor and from pole to pole. Exploration is
a fundamental component of basic research. It is where
science begins - with general ideas or broad hypotheses
that seek to characterize new areas and processes
in the ocean. The resulting knowledge provides a framework
for further inquiry through subsequent, more specific
investigations.
Last fall, the President's Panel on Ocean Exploration,
convened by the previous administration and chaired
by Dr. Marcia McNutt, produced a report highlighting
the fact that oceans remain largely unexplored and
calling for establishment of an ocean exploration
program. The report identifies many areas offering
high potential for scientific advances. NSF is currently
active in and seeks to expand activities associated
with relatively unexplored areas and aspects of the
oceans, incorporating both educational and data management
and dissemination components, as well as technology
development.
Let me highlight a few of the areas in which we see
NSF playing an important role.
Relatively Unexplored Regions
- The deep biosphere (including the subsurface biosphere)
found along seafloor volcanic ridges still remains
a mystery. We are continuing to discover new hydrothermal
vent locations, with their associated and remarkable
ecosystems that may help to explain the origins
of life on earth and open new avenues of research
in biotechnology. These seafloor volcanic ridges
and vents also help us develop an understanding
of plate tectonics and how the earth itself was
formed.
A particularly compelling example of the kind of
exploration activity the Panel has described is
a recently completed expedition to the Indian
Ocean. NSF funded an interdisciplinary team of
34 scientists, technicians and engineers to explore
a newly discovered vent field by collecting biological
samples and samples of vent and smoker fluid and
plumes, rocks and sediment samples from the seafloor,
and by precisely mapping the area. The research
project is fully integrated with an educational
component entitled "Dive and Discover", co-funded
with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and
Ohio's Center of Science and Industry, with live
webcasts (through NASA), interactive opportunities
between students and scientists, and companion
materials that assist teachers in explaining the
science and technology behind the cruise and in
providing classroom activities. The "Dive and
Discover" web site has been nominated for the
"Webby Award" for its educational and scientific
content.
he ALVIN research submarine, in which I've had
the privilege of diving, has been an extraordinary
tool for reaching the deep ocean over the past
thirty years. A design study for an ALVIN replacement
with even greater capabilities will start this
summer.
- As noted by the Panel, both the Arctic and many
areas of the Southern Ocean offer tremendous opportunities
for exploration.
- The Arctic is data-poor. It is difficult to reach
much of the region, especially in the winter.
NSF is presently developing robotic aerosondes,
small pilotless planes, to sample the marine atmosphere
and monitor sea ice. These planes can fly in hazardous
conditions and over an extremely wide range -
assets for obtaining measurements where manned
missions would be costly and dangerous.
We have also established an environmental observatory
at the North Pole. This year we carried out a hydrographic
survey from the North Pole toward Alaska. Automated
instruments at the station transmit data by satellite
from the ice surface and from instruments anchored
to the sea floor.
In cooperation with the Office of Naval Research and
the Navy, we used Naval submarines to explore the
Arctic Ocean from below and to chart the seafloor
as part of our Scientific Ice Expeditions (SCICEX).
We are now moving to a new way of exploring under
the sea ice using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs).
They are designed to make long duration (11 day) forays
under ice-covered oceans, and can transmit their position
and data while underway using mini-torpedoes that
heat their way through the ice and report by satellite.
- The Southern Ocean - the southernmost reaches
of the global oceans - is uniquely placed to contribute
to understanding of many global environmental
issues. In recent years it has been the site for
regional global research programs, and more efforts
are planned to understand the dynamics of Antarctic
ocean circulation processes, the global dispersion
of Antarctic water masses, and the region's contribution
to the carbon cycle.
The cold temperatures, long periods of darkness, and
episodes of high UV radiation place extreme stresses
on biological systems in the Arctic and Southern Oceans.
Scientists are discovering species of fish that have
evolved specific genetic adaptations that enable them
to live in freezing waters.
Exploring in Time
The Panel emphasized the need to explore ocean dynamics
and interactions, often referred to as "exploring
in time." Many of the most revealing discoveries today
are coming from measurements made at the same location
but over sustained time periods. NSF is vitally active
in this area.
The availability of long time-series data that extend
over several decades is recognized as a key element
to understanding the role of the oceans in modulating
the behavior of the earth system. For several years,
we have supported time-series projects near Hawaii
and Bermuda to enable understanding of processes that
cannot be captured by snapshot visits. The data collected
cuts across disciplines and sets the stage for further
scientific inquiry.
We have also invested in technology development and
emplacement of prototype seafloor observatories off
of the New Jersey coast and Hawaii. Consistent with
numerous recent reports, including one by the National
Academy of Sciences highlighting both interdisciplinary
research and educational benefits, NSF is planning
for an enhanced investment in seafloor observatories.
I will discuss this further in the context of the
proposed Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS).
Ocean Drilling Program
I would be remiss to discuss ocean exploration without
mention of the Ocean Drilling Program, a longstanding
program dedicated to ocean exploration and basic research
which advances many areas highlighted by the Panel.
The program is an international partnership involving
over 20 nations with NSF providing about $50 million
annually to support U.S. academic community involvement.
It explores aspects of Earth's history, structure
and processes by taking core samples of the Earth's
crust from all of the world's oceans.
NSF has been working with its international partners
to develop the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP),
the future phase of scientific drilling. The Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program envisions an expansion of exploration
beneath the oceans, made possible by increasing drilling
capability, from the single-ship operation currently
in use, to a multiple-drilling platform operation
of the future. The new drilling, sampling and observing
capabilities would allow scientists to conduct experiments
and collect samples in environments and at depths
never before attempted. The IODP would recover cores
from the subseafloor ocean and from as yet poorly
sampled environments, such as the Arctic Ocean basin.
The results assist efforts to "explore in time" by
studying sediments which record historical changes
in the Earth's environment.
Technology Development
Research in technology development and subsequent capital
investments in such technologies is critical to exploration
as well as other areas of basic research. I have already
mentioned many of these technologies, such as aerosondes,
AUVs, through ice communications, submersibles, and
seafloor observatories, in the context of the science
they support. Development of these important tools
must proceed hand-in-hand with the development of
scientific questions requiring their use.
One such technology development effort resulted in
the Autonomous Benthic Explorer or "ABE." The concept
of a roving robot that could remain on station in
the deep sea for up to a year was developed in discussions
between engineers and scientists studying hydrothermal
systems. ABE is capable of performing detailed survey
work with video cameras, sonar, and other sensors
at pre-programmed areas and time periods. Between
surveys, ABE remains parked on the seafloor awaiting
the next pre-programmed survey, or a direct command
to start a new survey. By being able to remain on
the seafloor in an unattended mode over long time
periods, ABE allows us to study seafloor processes
on space and time scales that we are unable to by
using surface ships and manned submersibles alone.
While the kinds of technology I've just described are
fundamental to exploration activities, their importance
is by no means exclusive to them. In the remainder
of my testimony I will discuss the proposed Integrated
Ocean Observing System, including coastal observatories,
which would profoundly influence the conduct of basic
research, exploration, and, for our sister agencies,
operational activities.
COASTAL OBSERVATORIES AND INTEGRATED
OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM
In establishing the National Oceanographic Partnership
Program (NOPP) in 1997, the Congress found that "understanding
of the oceans through basic and applied research is
essential for using the oceans wisely and protecting
their limited resources. Therefore the United States
should maintain its world leadership in oceanography
as one key to its competitive future."
A major focus of NOPP has been the development and
implementation of a comprehensive, integrated national
ocean observing system. NSF-supported researchers
would contribute to, and would benefit from, an ocean
observing system in fundamental ways.
Design and Development
Effective and efficient oceanographic observation systems
cannot be designed without some knowledge of the active
processes that they are intended to study. Only with
an understanding of the underlying processes can we
make good decisions about what measurements will best
characterize changes in the ocean, and, most importantly,
how many measurements are required, and where they
should be located. NSF-supported researchers contribute
to an understanding of these processes and the intimate
links that exist between the chemical, physical and
biological variables.
Observational Activities in the Coastal and Open Ocean
In addition to the valuable operational uses of data
that would be made available through a national Integrated
Oceans Observing System (IOOS), access to long time-series
data is imperative for basic research. The need is
outlined in a variety of reports, the most recent
of which is "Ocean Sciences at the New Millennium"
published in April 2001. The report, developed by
a committee of distinguished scientists with extensive
community input, states that "the lack of extensive,
more-or-less continuous time-series measurements in
the oceans is probably one of the most serious impediments
to understanding of long-term trends and cyclic changes
in the oceans and in global climate, as well as episodic
events such as major earthquakes, volcanic eruptions
or submarine landslides. We recommend strong support
for the development, deployment and maintenance of
long-term observing systems."
As part of its ongoing activities in both the coastal
and open oceans, NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences
has been working with the academic community to develop
an Ocean Observatories Initiative. The effort would
provide basic infrastructure for a new way of gaining
access to the oceans, by starting to build a network
of ocean observatories that would facilitate the collection
of long time-series data streams needed to understand
the dynamics of biological, chemical, geological and
physical processes. Just as NSF supports the academic
research vessel fleet for the spatial exploration
of our oceans, the system of observatories provided
for by the Ocean Observatories Initiative would facilitate
the 'temporal' exploration of our oceans. The effort
envisions implementation of a set of seafloor junction
boxes connected to a series of cables running along
the seafloor to individual instruments or instrument
clusters. The junction box, with undersea connectors,
provides a source of power to the instruments, and
a means of transmitting two-way communications to
and from the instruments. A data/operations center
would be established that would function within the
framework of the proposed Integrated Ocean Observing
System and would be responsible for insuring unified
data handling and dissemination procedures using the
most advanced information and communications technologies.
The location and types of observatories to be established
would be determined through a competitive peer review
process. This new ability to continuously receive
and record ocean data and to communicate with scientific
instruments on the seafloor would greatly advance
our knowledge and predictive capabilities in ocean
science.
Data Collection, Management, Access, and Analysis
Advances in instant communication, vast databases,
computational power, and extensive analytical capability
contribute to making IOOS possible. One of the key
aspects of IOOS would be a network for the system
that links together various components (e.g., observatories,
data archives, modeling groups) to form a distributed
"hub-node" system that is centrally coordinated.
NSF is providing support, along with its NOPP partners,
for a consortium of private, academic, state, federal
and international partners to plan and implement a
network based system for the integration of regional,
national and international oceanographic data.
In addition, NSF and the Office of Naval Research have
tasked an Ocean Information Technology Infrastructure
Steering Committee to develop a flexible and comprehensive
implementation plan for a distributed information
technology infrastructure that can be readily integrated
with the "hub/node" enterprise.
Support for Management Structure
With its agency partners, NSF is currently supporting
the recently established OCEAN.US office to coordinate
implementation of the proposed IOOS.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
We are in a time of rich opportunity for research and
exploration in oceanography. The advances that have
been made are impressive. As new observation systems
are implemented we will learn more about the changes
that are occurring on our planet on time scales of
days, years, decades and centuries. With the right
investments the coming decades in ocean research and
exploration will be truly extraordinary. NSF looks
forward to working with other agencies, institutions,
and nations to see that this happens.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity
to share with you and the members of your committee
the exciting work being supported and planned by NSF.
I would be pleased to respond to any questions that
you might have.
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