MISO Facility Funding Support and Cost Structure

The WHOI SSSG-MISO Facility is the only active, US academic oceanographic facility capable of providing high-resolution imaging systems for a diverse suite of observational and sampling objectives that augments existing National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF) or other deep-submergence vehicle operations (e.g., HOV, ROV or AUVs). Dan Fornari originally conceived of the MISO Facility 25 years ago and is the primary manager of the Facility. He has been responsible for coordinating equipment use, mobilization, demobilization, and initiation of new instrumentation development and capabilities to support MISO objectives to support academic oceanographic field research and outreach activities.  MISO Facility equipment is available to all US investigators via the UNOLS Marine Facilities Planning website and ship/equipment facilities request system (https://mfp.us/). Additionally, the UNOLS ship and facility request form that normally accompanies all research proposals submitted for consideration of field work includes links for PIs to select/request MISO imaging systems for their research needs.

Funding that supports MISO provided equipment, including mobilization and demobilization activities, and at-sea technical support by trained technicians/engineers is normally included within the annual funding for this type of oceanographic instrumentation requested through federal agency proposal processes, most commonly through the National Science Foundation's OCE-Oceanographic Facilities and Instrumentation Program.

Depending on the type of MISO equipment required and the need for at-sea technical support, PIs are encouraged to contact the MISO Facility via email at: miso@whoi.edu to get specific technical information and budget guidance for proposals. Including MISO requests in the MFP shipboard request system is also essential to ensure proper scheduling and support.

Since 2018, MISO has been integrated into WHOI-SSSG, and during 2022-2023 that collaboration has expanded to include substantial interaction and joint seagoing operational efforts with the MARSSAM coring and dredging facility. During 2022-2023, there have been several opportunities for training UNOLS tech pool shipboard technicians, as well as WHOI-SSSG and MARSSAM technicians in operation and maintenance at sea of MISO imaging and data systems. There also continue to be important enabling capabilities that MISO has provided to WHOI’s NDSF vehicles (Alvin, ROV Jason and AUV Sentry), to improve and expand imaging capabilities for deep submergence science. Additional efforts to expand the application of MISO instrumentation and capabilities to other deep submergence vehicle operators (e.g., NOAA-Ocean Exploration; Ocean Exploration Trust -OET; and Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI), as well as international deep submergence operators have been ongoing and successful over the past ~ 5 years.

The future management of the MISO equipment pool and coordination with various scientists who will use that equipment for their research will, over the course of the next few years, be a collaborative effort between Fornari, and Dr. Masako Tominaga, a tenured Assoc. Scientist at WHOI in the G&G Dept., who has agreed to take on this responsibility. Tominaga has extensive experience in facility management as she is currently the SSSG-PFPE Manager overseeing marine gravimetry for the US academic community and UNOLS academic research fleet (ARF).

We envision a combination of close operational/management collaboration between WHOI-MISO, MARSSAM and UNOLS facility operators over the next 5 years that will continue to build technical/engineering talent and operational support for MISO systems used for field data collection on any of the ARF ships. Additionally, improved web-access to the MISO inventory and periodic updating of documentation of the various MISO systems and routine access to a long-time contractor that specializes in deep-sea imaging systems that are part of the MISO equipment inventory (specifically, Mr. Eli Perrone, EP Oceanographic and Ocean Imaging Systems- EPO-OIS), will help to ensure both real-time field support for at-sea technicians as well as routine maintenance of MISO equipment. Fornari will continue to be involved as needed and to provide the necessary transition mentoring and assistance as Tominaga assumes management oversight of MISO activities over the next 4 years. By 2029, Dr. Tominaga will be fully responsible for MISO Facility activities and will work with WHOI-SSSG leadership to continue to operate the facility for the benefit of the US oceanographic community.

Over the years, MISO operational support on shore and at sea has derived from a combination of WHOI technical personnel from the AOP&E and PO departments, as well as outside contractors who have extensive experience with MISO equipment. Currently MISO has established an excellent working relationship with EPO-OIS of Pocasset, MA – Mr. Eli Perrone – an engineer who designs and manufactures the 24MP digital deep-sea cameras and strobes that are the backbone of the MISO Towcam imaging systems as well as the MISO-OIS GoPro cameras and EPO-MISO high-temperature vent fluid loggers. In summary, the technical support structure available for MISO systems is robust with both WHOI technical support and the outside technical expertise provided by Eli Perrone to assist in supporting the MISO Facility for the next 5 years.

Providing the oceanographic research community with routine access to MISO instrumentation will augment data collection methods and greatly improve imaging and sampling capabilities across many disciplines in oceanography. Numerous PhD and Ms students across the US have been exposed to MISO instrumentation and have used the imagery for their thesis work and in presentations at scientific meetings. The images acquired using MISO equipment have been valuable for both engaging young students to enter oceanography as a field of study and will also interest the general public to educate them about the myriad phenomena and features of the global ocean seafloor.

Over the past two years multiple TV nature series (The Stephen Low Company and BBC - Earth Story III and Blue Planet III, PRX 'The World') and numerous websites hosted by academic PIs and research institutions have taken advantage of the excellent images and high-resolution videos collected using MISO equipment to portray their oceanographic and deep-sea research activities to global audiences. MISO imagery collected during Alvin, ROV or AUV dives, TowCam lowerings, or in combination with seafloor sampling (e.g., MC400, MC800 and box corers) is delivered to the chief scientist of the leg and the ship operator ,and an archive copy is kept in the MISO hard drive collection. Metadata for each imaging system(s) used are provided for inclusion in the science cruise report and to accompany the delivery of the data to national repositories, including both MGDS and WHOI-NDSF archives.