Providing Assistance to Our Nation’s Marine and
Coastal Security Programs

In 2004, the U.S. Ocean Commission published “An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century” to which President Bush responded with an “Ocean Action Plan.” Both efforts focus on employing the best available scientific data so policymakers and “on-the-ground” coastal and environmental managers can make informed, thoughtful decisions regarding the future of our coastal and marine ecosystems. This fact, combined with the post-9/11 culture committed to strengthening our nation’s homeland security of U.S. ports and coastal infrastructure, and the need to understand potential threats to coastal communities, has resulted in a clear consensus. We are a nation in need of improved coastal and marine science guided by stateof- the-art technologies that require an integrated communication infrastructure and value-added interpretive tools. Emerging Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) partnerships, which are created under the Ocean Blueprint, seek to fulfill this mission via three focus areas: field observation systems, data management methods and software to enable advanced data fusion, and analyses.

Battelle has active programs with dedicated responses to all three focus areas. In response to the marine and coastal security needs, in August 2004, Battelle staff at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) set up a new coastal security program to develop advanced sensors capable of providing early warning of biological, chemical, or nuclear material releases in marine and coastal environments. It is being instituted at PNNL’s Marine Research Operations (MRO) in Sequim, Wash. (PNNL is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Battelle.) Battelle researchers at MRO will develop advanced sensors and technologies to meet needs of the intelligence, homeland security, defense and global security communities.

As part of its work in field observation systems, Battelle is conducting observing system studies for a government client to evaluate Autonomous Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (AUV) for the collection and characterization of physical, biological, and chemical data of interest to the client. The studies include determining AUV navigational accuracy versus requirements for different types of sampling operations, integrating commercial off-the-shelf sensors into a payload, and creating preliminary designs of payloads for collecting water or pumping water through filtration systems.

In an effort to provide unparalleled support in this area, Battelle recently acquired Bluefin Robotics Corporation, a world leader in the development of autonomous underwater vehicles. Bluefin develops advanced underwater vehicles for such diverse applications as naval mine warfare and other battlespace missions; offshore oil and gas seafloor surveys, including those for deepocean installations; and scientific exploration, ecosystem investigations, and navigational surveys of the oceans.

Working together with Mass Insight Corporation, a public, non-profit policy consulting firm promoting economic development in Massachusetts, Battelle is also helping to develop the governance and agenda for a major new Ocean and Science Technology Initiative. The Initiative brings together a consortium of Massachusetts partners, including research institutions, (i.e., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Navy Undersea Warfare Center), academic institutions (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Massachusetts), and leaders in marine technology such as Battelle, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin-Sippican. The group’s immediate focus is to come together as a region to promote a unified approach to the IOOS implementation. Long-term goals include defining/developing a new, shared R&D center as a hub to integrate information from ocean observing systems and to develop IOOS applications.

For more information, contact Ms. Sally Yozell at (781) 952-5331, yozells@battelle.org.