Creation and deployment of the NEREUS autonomous underwater chemical analyzer and Kemonaut, an odyssey class submarine

Abstract

NEREUS is a compact self-contained low-power submersible membrane-inlet mass spectrometer, designed to measure dissolved volatile gasses in the water column. It is capable of intelligent data collection, analysis and state-based mission control while operating as a stand-alone instrument or onboard the Kemonaut autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Kemonaut is an Odyssey class AUV with increased payload carrying capacity and dynamic stability, and is intended for freshwater and coastal marine applications to depths of 300 meters. The NEREUS-Kemonaut system characteristics allow for greatly improved dissolved gas data collection rates, accuracy and mapping resolution over presently available technologies. Applications particularly well suited for the NEREUS-Kemonaut system include identification and mapping of pollution sources such as chemical spills, investigation of enigmatic freshwater and marine ecosystems, assessment of subsurface natural resources and estimation of marine-related greenhouse gas cycling.