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RDSea and Associates, Inc. (RDSea), based in St. Pete Beach, Fla., has recently been awarded a prime contract from the First Institute of Oceanography (FIO), State Oceanographic Administration, Qindao, China to design, build and deploy a complete "Air-Sea Interaction" buoy and mooring sys- tem for climate research in the eastern Indian Ocean (IO). Partnering with systems integrator Down East Instrumentation, LLC, of Cary, North Carolina, engineering has begun on a state-of-the-art buoy sys- tem that will transmit subsurface oceanographic data along with a full suite of meteorological observations at the sea-surface via the Iridium Satellite Constellation back to China. The FIO-Buoy development and deployment is in support of the Indonesian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS) and its' mooring compo- nent The Research Moored Array for the African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction Program (RAMA). The project will consist of long-term measurements of currents in the Equatorial region of the IO using acoustic Doppler cur- rent profilers (ADCP) along with temperature, conductivity and pres- sure sensors (moored CTDs). Funding for the IndOOS falls under the Climate Variability & Predictability (CLIVAR), World Climate Research Program (WCRP). Contributing countries consist of: India, Indonesia, Australia, the USA, France, and China. Contributors to the FIO-Buoy system are: Mooring Systems, Inc. (Cataumet, MA), sub- contracted to build the buoy and mooring, Teledyne RD Instruments (San Diego, CA), Teledyne Benthos, Inc. (North Falmouth, MA), Sea-Bird Electronics (Bellevue, WA), and ORE Offshore (West Wareham, MA), all are assisting with the science and technology transfer to the IO-rim countries to help establish their own observing capabilities in the region and to promote an oceanic observing level in the Indian Ocean and under- stand its' role in the global climate system. RDSea's foundation was built on Federal programs such as the Equatorial Pacific Ocean Climate Study (EPOCS), the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Project (TOGA) and the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Program that is ongoing today in the Pacific, maintained by NOAA's National Data Buoy Center (NDBC, Stennis Space Center, MS). RDSea is presently under contract to assist NDBC and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) on TAO with the transition of the array ADCPs to updated tech- nology and scheduled to soon depart on NOAA Ship Ka'Imimoana from the Republic of the Marshall Is. (Kwajalein Atoll) to recover the last remaining "Narrow Band" ADCP deployed along the equator. Ironically, RDSea President and Founder, Rick Cole was on the NOAA research cruise that deployed the very first ADCP along the equa- tor at 170W in 1987 by the University of South Florida (USF). Rick has been employed by USF's Ocean Circulation Group for the past 20 years working on blue and shallow water physical-oceanographic pro- grams spanning the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. people & companies 48 MTR April 2009 RDSea and Down East Instrumentation Partnership in the Indian Ocean Left: Jeffrey Kinder, Managing Director, Down East Instrumentation, LLC Right: Rick Cole, President, RDSea and Associates, Inc. MTR#3 (50-64).qxd 3/27/2009 2:44 PM Page 48
