The UH Marine Center, in collaboration with a number of other UH research groups, coordinates maintenance and operations of a variety of underwater vehicles. These vehicles include 2 manned HURL submersibles, a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) capable of diving to 6000 m, 3 HMRG towed side-scan sonars, a Remus Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), and several ocean gliders used by C-MORE, HOT, and other programs.

Manned Submersibles

The Pisces V and Pisces IV are three-person, battery-powered, submersibles with a maximum operating depth of 2000 m (6,280 ft). The submersibles are operated by the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) and normally deployed by the R/V KOK. In 2012 HURL has also commissioned a Launch and Recovery and Transport (LRT) platform for nearshore work around the Main Hawaiian Islands.

Lu‘ukai ROV

SOEST has recently acquired a 6000-m remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Built by DOER Marine, the ROV is designed for maximum maneuverability and mission flexibility. It can collect specimens, characterize substrates, capture video and still images of activities and surveys, monitor water column properties and perform specialized tasks such as installing, connecting and testing seafloor equipment.

Towed Vehicles

HMRG currently maintains and operates three towed bathymetric sidescan sonar systems that provide a wide range of mapping capabilities: MR1 (11/12-kHz), IMI120 (120-kHz), and IMI30 (30-kHz.). The three towed vehicles can also host a variety of other sensors including a sub-bottom profiler, magnetometer, sound velocity profilesr and a conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) sensors.

REMUS

REMUS (Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS) is a small AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) that is designed for use in nearshore waters. The UH REMUS is equipped with sensors that measure salinity, temperature, currents, bathymetry and water quality parameters. Using REMUS to collect these parameters provides a spatial context for the nearshore/offshore sensor network and water sampling programs.

Ocean Gliders

Seagliders are a buoyancy driven autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that fly through the water with extremely modest energy requirements using changes in buoyancy for thrust coupled with a stable, low-drag, hydrodynamic shape. SOEST groups that operate and/or use data from ocean gliders include C-MORE, HOT, and PacIOOS.