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BOSTON, MA - The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has been tapped to spearhead the construction of a state-of-the-art sea laboratory along the U.S. Northeast continental shelf off the Massachusetts coast, state officials said.
The New England Coastal Ocean Observing System will require the development of new sensing and measuring devices and robotic underwater vehicles that will provide real-time data on the marine environment.
As part of the new laboratory, researchers will be able to remotely control instruments and construct virtual observatories designed to help tackle specific scientific, health and public policy problems, officials said.
"The economic and environmental impact of this project is impressive," said Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth. "With this grant, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute will advance its groundbreaking research on the evolution, impact and importance of our oceans."
The project got a boost with the announcement of a $97.7 million federal grant and a matching $10 million state grant.
A formal announcement was planned for Thursday in Woods Hole.
The Woods Hole institution obtained the grants after winning a competition from the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative. The federal grant is the largest single grant the institution has received.
Raytheon Company is also expected to play a management role in the project.
Woods Hole will lead a team including Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and Oregon State University’s College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences.
The team will develop, install and operate the coastal and global components of the National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative. The project is part of the science foundation’s $331 million Ocean Observatories Initiative.
As part of the project, scientists will float coastal waters buoys equipped to measure the exchange of energy in the form of heat between the ocean and the atmosphere.
Measuring that exchange and examining whether or not forecast models correctly account for the influence of the ocean is a significant step forward in forecasting weather, officials said.
The buoys will provide a new source of data to improve forecasts while at the same time sharpening the understanding of how coastal waters influence weather and climate.
Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., said the project will improve understanding of the ocean while aiding the state’s research and science industry.
"This grant is not only a significant boost for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and research on climate change, but it will enable us to better manage coastal resources for future uses like offshore wave and tidal energy, and deep water wind energy technology," Delahunt said in a statement.
In its request for proposals, the National Science Foundation said its goal was to initiate "construction of an integrated observatory network that will provide the oceanographic research and education communities with a new mode of access to the ocean."
The network is designed to include: a regional cabled network of interconnected sites on the sea floor spanning geological and oceanographic features and processes; deep-sea buoys that could also be deployed in harsh environments like the Southern Ocean; and new construction or enhancements to existing facilities leading to an expanded network of coastal observatories.
The $10 million is coming from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s John Adams’ Innovation Institute.
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