2021 Shipboard Scientific Support Equipment R/V Atlantic Explorer

A request is made to fund Shipboard Scientific Support Equipment on R/V Atlantic Explorer, a 168’ general purpose research vessel owned and operated by Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science (BIOS) as part of the United States Academic Research Fleet (ARF). BIOS is a U.S. 501 (c) 3 and 509 (a) not-for-profit research and educational institution incorporated in the state of New York, and geographically located on the Island of Bermuda.

The mission of the ship is to support funded science research throughout the Central Atlantic but specifically work in support of the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series (BATS) program. RV Atlantic Explorer had 130 days funded, in the pandemic-shortened season in 2020, all of which were for NSF. In 2021, the vessel is scheduled to sail 206 days with 183 (89%) of them funded by NSF.

With this proposal, BIOS provides technical descriptions and rationale for the acquisition of the following Equipment: Hawboldt Standard Winch 42 Series $537,696 Nine Drager SCBA packs and Viking firefighting outfits $77,496 Three RCP-90X programmable controllers $21,082 $636,274 Broader Impacts

The principal impact of the present proposal is under Merit Review Criterion 2 of the Proposal Guidelines (NSF 19-602). It provides infrastructure support for scientists to use the vessel and its shared-use instrumentation in support of their NSF-funded oceanographic research projects (which individually undergo separate review by the relevant research program of NSF).

The acquisition, maintenance and operation of shared-use instrumentation allows NSF-funded researchers from any US university or lab access to working, calibrated instruments for their research, reducing the cost of that research, and expanding the base of potential researchers.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.