Science & Technology for Exploration
Today’s technologies allow us to explore the ocean in increasingly systematic, scientific, and noninvasive ways. With continuing scientific and technological advances, our ability to observe the ocean environment and its resident creatures is beginning to catch up with our imaginations, expanding our understanding and appreciation of this still largely unexplored realm.
This section highlights some of the technologies that make exploration possible today and the scientific achievements that result from this exploration. Technologies include platforms such as vessels and submersibles, observing systems and sensors, communication technologies, and diving technologies that transport us across ocean waters and into the depths and allow us to scientifically examine, record, and analyze the mysteries of the ocean.
Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer is owned by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research and was built and continues to be maintained and operated by the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration (GFOE).
Satellites that detect and observe different characteristics and features of the Earth's atmosphere, lands, and ocean are often referred to as environmental satellites. Most environmental satellites have one of two types of orbits: geosynchronous or sun-synchronous.
SOund NAvigation and Ranging—SONAR—is used to find and identify objects in water. It is also used to determine water depth (bathymetry). Sonar is applied to water-based activities because sound waves attenuate (taper off) less in water as they travel than do radar and light waves.
Multibeam sonar is a type of active sonar system used to map the seafloor and detect objects in the water column or along the seafloor. The multiple physical sensors of the sonar – called a transducer array – send and receive sound pulses that map the seafloor or detect other objects. A multibeam array is usually mounted directly on the ship’s hull.
Side-scan sonar is a type of active sonar system for detecting and imaging objects on the seafloor. The multiple physical sensors of the sonar — called a transducer array — send and receive the acoustic pulses that help map the seafloor or detect other objects. This array can be mounted on the ship’s hull or placed on another platform like a towfish.
Split-beam (or single-beam) sonar is a type of active sonar that uses sound to explore the composition of our ocean. Whether attached to the hull of a ship, a pole mount, an autonomous underwater vehicle, a water column profiling system, or even stationary on the seafloor, this machine works by emitting a single vertical sound pulse called a “ping” at a specific frequency, then listening for the echo’s return.
Synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) is an emerging type of sonar that uses an artificial, or synthetic, array to capture high-resolution images. SAS can be used for imaging cultural heritage sites like shipwrecks, classifying habitat or biological organisms, and characterizing seafloor sediment makeup.
A sub-bottom profiler is a type of sonar system – a geophysical survey tool that uses sound to map beneath the seafloor. Low-frequency pulses of sound are aimed toward the seafloor, where some pulses penetrate through and are then reflected by subsurface sediment. Sub-bottom profilers can be installed in the hull of a ship or towed behind a moving vessel.
Darkness, cold, and crushing pressures have challenged the most experienced engineers to develop submersibles that descend to seafloor depths that are not safe for divers, allowing us to explore the deep ocean firsthand.
Many components make up a successful research submersible. The suction sampler and detrital sampler were designed to attach to different types of submersibles and collect many of the unique and fragile organisms found only in the deep ocean.
In the underwater world of scuba diving, descending to depths up to 40 meters (130 feet) is considered recreational scuba. When divers exceed this limit, they enter the realm of technical diving.
Just as microphones collect sound in the air, underwater hydrophones detect acoustic signals, or sounds in the ocean, including marine mammals, earthquakes, ships and waves.