Scene on the Sound: Roger Revelle sailed through the Sea on her way to Hilo

R/V Roger Revelle
Photo by Jan Hansen

Photo and research by Jan Hansen

R/V Roger Revelle is operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography under a charter agreement with the Office of Naval Research. Roger Revelle is one of six major oceanographic research vessels owned by the U.S. Navy and operated within the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System as shared-use research facilities.

The National Science Foundation is the primary U.S federal agency supporting research at the frontiers of knowledge, across all fields of science and engineering (S/E) and all levels of S/E education. Important support for research vessel operations at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is supported by the National Science Foundation.

The vessel's suite of shared-use instrumentation is carefully maintained and regularly upgraded to offer scientists the most capable sensors available.

Roger Revelle hosts the Hydrographic Doppler Sonar System (HDSS), a one-of-a-kind hull-mounted long-range dual-frequency (50-140 kHz) Doppler sonar that measures current shear at much higher resolution than commercially-available Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs). Revelle offers outstanding navigation and station-keeping characteristics, with a modern dynamic positioning system coupled to a flexible and powerful propulsion system.

Other notable features of Roger Revelle include an EM122 deep-water multibeam mapping system featuring redundant motion sensors for failover protection, an X-band radar that measures surface wave properties, an advanced computer network with wired and wireless access for all scientists, triply-redundant (HiSeasNet, Fleet Broadband, 3G cellular) off-ship internet connections that provide uninterrupted web access, and a robust suite of modern, well-maintained sensing systems.

These capabilities, in addition to a suite of underway instruments, result in a capable and highly adaptable platform for scientific research across all disciplines of marine science.

(Information from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.)