User:Philipyang14/sandbox

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A type of benthic lander used for oceanographic research that sits on the seabed to record biological, physical, and chemical activity. ALBEX (Autonomous Lander for Biological Experiments) [1] was originally developed in the late 1990s to collect in situ seafloor measurements by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) [2]. Since then, the landers have expanded to host a suite of instruments to collect data from deep water environments using a Eulerian frame. As of October 2022, NIOZ operates all of the ALBEX's in the world.

The yellow attachments on ALBEX cover glass balls filled with air. A weight is attached at the bottom of ALBEX to help it sink to the seafloor. ALBEX will sit on the seafloor for a period of time to collect measurements, and then the weight will be released to allow the lander to float back to the surface for collection by a research vessel. The data collected can be interpreted to help understand environmental conditions of the deep-sea, and ALBEX has been used to study the habitat of deep-water corals.

Figure 1. 3D printed model of an ALBEX lander shown with other models of deep-water corals (not to correct scale or color).

Instrumentation[edit]

ALBEX is capable of sustaining itself in the high-pressure depths of the ocean for extended periods of time to collect high frequency data, such as is required for a reference data set [3]. Time series data are a key component in the verification and validation of benchmarks for remote sensing and modeling of ocean characteristics.

ALBEX can cover many interdisciplinary research priorities such as Biogeochemistry, Marine Ecology, Physical Oceanography, Geosciences, and Geo-hazards [3]. These platforms are modular and capable of being equipped with instrumentation and sensors reflective of current research goals.

Common instrumentation and sensors equipped on these platforms include conductivity temperature and depth (CTD instrument) sensors, fluorometers and optical backscatter sensors, Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), acoustic current meters, and acoustic releases to allow for collection of the platforms at the end of their deployments. As previously noted, these platforms are modular so the instrumentation equipped onto ALBEX landers will be inclusive to the goals of a particular cruise. Cameras able to withstand such depths are also used to take video and photos but are not used constantly as they consume a lot of battery power.

An ALBEX lander pre-deployment on a research cruise.

Ocean research[edit]

ALBEX landers are currently used for many oceanographic research purposes. Expedition logs from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) frequently refer to them in their documentation of their scientific research cruise [4]. In the Gulf of Mexico, ALBEX helped understand the environmental variability that allows a vibrant community of Lophelia pertusa to survive [5]. ALBEX also helped scientists understand food supply to a cold-water coral community off the coast of NW Spain [1]. ALBEX collected data off the coast of North Carolina has helped understand the temperature tolerance of L. pertusa [6]. ALBEX was also deployed in the NW Atlantic Ocean to study cold-water coral growth under extreme environmental conditions in Cape Lookout (North Carolina) [7].

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Duineveld, G. C. A.; Lavaleye, M. S. S.; Berghuis, E. M. (2004-08-16). "Particle flux and food supply to a seamount cold-water coral community (Galicia Bank, NW Spain)". Marine Ecology Progress Series. 277: 13–23. doi:10.3354/meps277013. ISSN 0171-8630.
  2. ^ Lavaleye, M.S.S.; Duineveld, G.C.A.; Berghuis, E.M. (1999). "Megabenthos, benthic respiration and phytopigments off NW Spain" (PDF). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ a b Lampitt, Richard; Favali, Paolo; Barnes, C.R.; Church, M.J.; Cronin, M. F.; Hill, K.L.; Kaneda, Y.; Karl, D.M.; Knap, A.H.; McPhaden, M.J.; Nittis, K.A.; Priede, I.G.; Rolin, J-F.; Send, U.; Teng, C-C (2010-12-31). "In Situ Sustained Eulerian Observatories". Proceedings of OceanObs'09: Sustained Ocean Observations and Information for Society. European Space Agency. doi:10.5270/oceanobs09.pp.27.
  4. ^ "Sealink expedition 2022". www.nioz.nl. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  5. ^ Mienis, F.; Duineveld, G. C. A.; Davies, A. J.; Ross, S. W.; Seim, H.; Bane, J.; van Weering, T. C. E. (2012-01-01). "The influence of near-bed hydrodynamic conditions on cold-water corals in the Viosca Knoll area, Gulf of Mexico". Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 60: 32–45. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2011.10.007. ISSN 0967-0637.
  6. ^ Brooke, Sandra; Ross, Steve W.; Bane, John M.; Seim, Harvey E.; Young, Craig M. (2013-08-01). "Temperature tolerance of the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa from the southeastern United States". Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. Deep-Sea Biodiversity and Life History Processes. 92: 240–248. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2012.12.001. ISSN 0967-0645.
  7. ^ Mienis, F.; Duineveld, G.; Davies, A. J.; Lavaleye, M. J. N.; Ross, S. W.; Seim, H.; Bane, J.; van Haren, H.; Bergman, M. (2013-12-03). "Cold-water coral growth under extreme environmental conditions, the Cape Lookout area, NW Atlantic". doi.org. doi:10.5194/bgd-10-18925-2013. Retrieved 2022-10-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
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