About

I started working on Thetis profilers in 2011. As an engineer for the Ocean Observatories Initiative, I led OOI’s development of its Coastal Surface Piercing Profilers (CSPPs). I worked with WET Labs to add features to the Thetis profiler so that it would meet OOI’s CSPP requirements. For example, OOI’s profilers are deployed next to an OOI surface mooring, so CSPPs have an acoustic modem to enable communication from shore through the surface mooring to the CSPP. OOI’s CSPPs operate in rough seas, so many of the features were added to improve the reliability and ruggedness of these profilers. OOI started operating CSPPs in 2014. We have six CSPPs. We operate four in spring and summer, and we operate two in fall and winter. When Sea-Bird decided to cease profiler service in 2020, it was apparent that servicing them myself was the only way for OOI to continue CSPP operations. In 2021, Sea-Bird agreed to license intellectual property to OSU and to transfer service materials to my lab so that the team I manage could service OOI’s CSPPs and other Sea-Bird Thetis profilers. Sea-Bird has trained me to perform all normal service, and the engineers who created the Thetis remain available to me when there are unusual problems. OSU’s OOI building is a 20 minute drive from Sea-Bird/WET Labs’s office, so I can meet with Sea-Bird engineers easily, if needed. I have set up a service center to handle the business side of this work. Profiler service will be performed by me and by one of the dozen technicians who also works on OOI’s Endurance Array at OSU.

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