The Growth of Telepresence and Ship-to-Shore Technologies and Operations at NOAA Ocean Exploration: Building on the Past to Power the Future

The growth of digital communication technologies has greatly expanded the horizons of conducting ocean science. Since 2010, telepresence and ship-to-shore technology have enabled hundreds of scientists from all across the globe to join those onboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to share their expertise from the comfort of their office or home. No longer is it necessary to juggle schedule availability, berthing space, and the likelihood of discovering specific sites to determine the makeup of a scientific crew on board. Instead, the force multiplier of telepresence allows scientists of all disciplines to be notified at a moment's notice of a deep-ocean discovery, available for scientific input when it is most needed. With access to live high-definition video feeds, a chat room, and an audio link to the ship, these researchers assume a near-real-time role within the expedition, identifying organisms, discussing samples best for collection, and sharing their knowledge not only with the research teams on the ship and at home but the watching public as well. The reach of telepresence also allows greater access for historically underrepresented communities. By lowering the threshold for participation, stakeholder communities without the means to participate in traditional scientific, sea-going expeditions are afforded greater access, ensuring many voices are heard rather than a select group with the means to be involved. The expansion of telepresence capabilities is not limited to just communication technologies and allowing scientists and the public to engage from shore, however. The COVID-19 pandemic created enormous challenges for sea-going operations, limiting the number of personnel, their proximity, and as a result, the types of operations that were feasible with a short-handed crew. By utilizing further advancements in telepresence technologies, such as increased andwidth and lower latency connections between ship and shore, and the inclusion of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations (i.e. Starlink), ideas born on the foundation of removing scientists from research vessels evolved into testing the ability to relocate mapping watch standers, engineers, and vehicle operators to shore-based positions. Several successful tests of these paradigms over the past few years with NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partners continue to drive the telepresence-based mapping bathymetric data acquisition and remote watch standing path forward, with additional investigations into autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) directed by autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) from shore. Just as the advancement of digital communication technologies enabled the removal of observational scientists from ocean-going research platforms such as Okeanos Explorer, the continued development of these tools and the necessity of solving problems exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated the expansion of core telepresence and remote operation paradigms to other research tools such as AUVs and ASVs. This poster presents the technologies used by NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partners in utilizing telepresence and ship-to-shore technology to conduct remote operations at sea and seeks to take lessons learned by past operations, recent tests in remote operations and watch standing, and look to the future of technologies currently in development to determine how remote operations may evolve. Much of the ocean remains largely unexplored, and the continued development of remote and telepresence technologies presents an opportunity to expand the window into the deep ocean to allow scientists and the public access to the deep for the benefit of all.