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This page was updated on 18th April 2005.

With the second prototype INSSEV proved to be a valuable tool in the study of flocculated suspended sediment. This is the instrument currently used by the University of Plymouth. It is a complex instrument to deploy successfully because of the high magnification camera. Any turbulence in the water has to be removed by the decelerator. This functions well. The major operational task for the operator is matching the water characteristics in the column with those of the sample. Careful monitoring of temperature and salinity is essential. If this is not achieved the column becomes unstable and the video images are unusable. Hence the reason for deploying the equipment with a trained operator!

The major improvement from the first prototype to the second was a much higher precision engineered decelerator so that the instrument could be used in higher current velocities. This was validated with extensive dye streaming experiments as well as numerical simulation.

Attempts to replicate INSSEV by other research groups have not met with much success. Precision construction techniques are required.

Designs for a new instrument - FLOCVU - have been developed by COASTAL RESEARCH that are intended to make an instrument that is very much easier to use than INSSEV. Improvements in electronics have allowed the greater miniaturisation of several components, and cabling diameters have been reduced. The latter is possible because the sampling robotics power supply is now carried on the deployment frame rather than being delivered from the survey vessel. One result of the design is that samples may be taken more frequently.

A derivative of FLOCVU is also available for use in deep sea environments. The main purpose of this instrument is to obtain the size, settling velocity and effective density of marine snow. The designs for this instrument - SNOWVU - have not been tested, but several of the precision component techniques utilised by FLOCVU have been incorporated. SNOWVU is designed to be lowered to the seabed without any electrical connections. The unit is programmed on the deployment vessel to run for a specific number of hours or days. On recovery of the instrument a DVD of the marine snow recordings is available for viewing, measurement and analysis. The viewed sediment sample is retained in the unit and is available for biogeochemical analyses, although the delicate marine snow structures will have collapsed.

Both instrument designs are available for development in collaboration with a research institute or a commercial equipment provider. Contact: COASTAL RESEARCH for further details.

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