Camilli Richard

Last Name

Camilli

First Name

Richard

ORCID

0000-0001-8049-4298

Full item page

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 15 of 15

Dissolved methane distributions and air-sea flux in the plume of a massive seep field, Coal Oil Point, California

(American Geophysical Union, 2007-11-24) Mau, Susan ; Valentine, David L. ; Clark, Jordan F. ; Reed, Justin ; Camilli, Richard ; Washburn, Libe

Large quantities of natural gas are emitted from the seafloor into the stratified coastal ocean near Coal Oil Point, Santa Barbara Channel, California. Methane was quantified in the down current surface water at 79 stations in a 280 km2 study area. The methane plume spread over an area of ~70 km2 and emitted on the order of 5 × 104 mol d−1 to the atmosphere. A monthly time series at 14 stations showed variable methane concentrations which were correlated with changing sub-mesoscale surface currents. Air-sea fluxes estimated from the time series indicate that the air-sea flux derived for the 280 km2 area is representative of the daily mean flux from this area. Only 1% of the dissolved methane originating from Coal Oil Point enters the atmosphere within the study area. Most of it appears to be transported below the surface and oxidized by microbial activity.
Flow rate and source reservoir identification from airborne chemical sampling of the uncontrolled Elgin platform gas release

(Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2018-03-27) Lee, James D. ; Mobbs, Stephen D. ; Wellpott, Axel ; Allen, Grant ; Bauguitte, Stephane J.-B. ; Burton, Ralph R. ; Camilli, Richard ; Coe, Hugh ; Fisher, Rebecca E. ; France, James L. ; Gallagher, Martin ; Hopkins, James R. ; Lanoiselle, Mathias ; Lewis, Alastair C. ; Lowry, David ; Nisbet, Euan G. ; Purvis, Ruth M. ; O'Shea, Sebastian ; Pyle, John A. ; Ryerson, Thomas B.

An uncontrolled gas leak from 25 March to 16 May 2012 led to evacuation of the Total Elgin wellhead and neighbouring drilling and production platforms in the UK North Sea. Initially the atmospheric flow rate of leaking gas and condensate was very poorly known, hampering environmental assessment and well control efforts. Six flights by the UK FAAM chemically instrumented BAe-146 research aircraft were used to quantify the flow rate. The flow rate was calculated by assuming the plume may be modelled by a Gaussian distribution with two different solution methods: Gaussian fitting in the vertical and fitting with a fully mixed layer. When both solution methods were used they compared within 6 % of each other, which was within combined errors. Data from the first flight on 30 March 2012 showed the flow rate to be 1.3 ± 0.2 kg CH4 s−1, decreasing to less than half that by the second flight on 17 April 2012. δ13CCH4 in the gas was found to be −43 ‰, implying that the gas source was unlikely to be from the main high pressure, high temperature Elgin gas field at 5.5 km depth, but more probably from the overlying Hod Formation at 4.2 km depth. This was deemed to be smaller and more manageable than the high pressure Elgin field and hence the response strategy was considerably simpler. The first flight was conducted within 5 days of the blowout and allowed a flow rate estimate within 48 h of sampling, with δ13CCH4 characterization soon thereafter, demonstrating the potential for a rapid-response capability that is widely applicable to future atmospheric emissions of environmental concern. Knowledge of the Elgin flow rate helped inform subsequent decision making. This study shows that leak assessment using appropriately designed airborne plume sampling strategies is well suited for circumstances where direct access is difficult or potentially dangerous. Measurements such as this also permit unbiased regulatory assessment of potential impact, independent of the emitting party, on timescales that can inform industry decision makers and assist rapid-response planning by government.
Coupled radon, methane and nitrate sensors for large-scale assessment of groundwater discharge and non-point source pollution to coastal waters

( 2009-12-09) Dulaiova, Henrieta ; Camilli, Richard ; Henderson, Paul B. ; Charette, Matthew A.

We constructed a survey system of radon/methane/nitrate/salinity to find sites of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) and groundwater nitrate input. We deployed the system in Waquoit Bay and Boston Harbor, MA where we derived SGD rates using a mass balance of radon with methane serving as a fine resolution qualitative indicator of groundwater. In Waquoit Bay we identified several locations of enhanced groundwater discharge, out of which two (Childs and Quashnet Rivers) were studied in more detail. The Childs River was characterized by high nitrate input via groundwater discharge, while the Quashnet River SGD was notable but not a significant source of nitrate. Our radon survey of Boston Harbor revealed several sites with significant SGD, out of these Inner Harbor and parts of Dorchester Bay and Quincy Bay had groundwater fluxes accompanied by significant water column nitrogen concentrations. The survey system has proven effective in revealing areas of SGD and non-point source pollution.
Toward extraplanetary under-ice exploration : robotic steps in the Arctic

( 2009-01-12) Kunz, Clayton G. ; Murphy, Christopher A. ; Singh, Hanumant ; Pontbriand, Claire W. ; Sohn, Robert A. ; Singh, Sandipa ; Sato, Taichi ; Roman, Christopher N. ; Nakamura, Ko-ichi ; Jakuba, Michael V. ; Eustice, Ryan M. ; Camilli, Richard ; Bailey, John

This paper describes the design and use of two new autonomous underwater vehicles, Jaguar and Puma, which were deployed in the summer of 2007 at sites at 85°N latitude in the ice-covered Arctic Ocean to search for hydrothermal vents. These robots are the first to be deployed and recovered through ice to the deep ocean (> 3500m) for scientific research. We examine the mechanical design, software architecture, navigation considerations, sensor suite and issues with deployment and recovery in the ice based on the missions they carried out. Successful recoveries of vehicles deployed under the ice requires two-way acoustic communication, flexible navigation strategies, redundant localization hardware, and software that can cope with several different kinds of failure. The ability to direct an AUV via the low bandwidth and intermittently functional acoustic channel, is of particular importance. Based on our experiences, we also discuss the applicability of the technology and operational approaches of this expedition to the exploration of Jupiter's ice-covered moon Europa.
Towards automated sample collection and return in extreme underwater environments

(Wiley, 2022-06-24) Billings, Gideon ; Walter, Matthew R. ; Pizarro, Oscar ; Johnson-Roberson, Matthew ; Camilli, Richard

In this report, we present the system design, operational strategy, and results of coordinated multivehicle field demonstrations of autonomous marine robotic technologies in search-for-life missions within the Pacific shelf margin of Costa Rica and the Santorini-Kolumbo caldera complex, which serve as analogs to environments that may exist in oceans beyond Earth. This report focuses on the automation of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) manipulator operations for targeted biological sample-collection-and-return from the seafloor. In the context of future extraterrestrial exploration missions to ocean worlds, an ROV is an analog to a planetary lander, which must be capable of high-level autonomy. Our field trials involve two underwater vehicles, the SuBastian ROV and the Nereid Under Ice (NUI) hybrid ROV for mixed initiative (i.e., teleoperated or autonomous) missions, both equipped seven-degrees-of-freedom hydraulic manipulators. We describe an adaptable, hardware-independent computer vision architecture that enables high-level automated manipulation. The vision system provides a three-dimensional understanding of the workspace to inform manipulator motion planning in complex unstructured environments. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the vision system and control framework through field trials in increasingly challenging environments, including the automated collection and return of biological samples from within the active undersea volcano Kolumbo. Based on our experiences in the field, we discuss the performance of our system and identify promising directions for future research.
Toward autonomous exploration in confined underwater environments

( 2015-08) Mallios, Angelos ; Ridao, Pere ; Ribas, David ; Carreras, Marc ; Camilli, Richard

In this field note we detail the operations and discuss the results of an experiment conducted in the unstructured environment of an underwater cave complex, using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). For this experiment the AUV was equipped with two acoustic sonar to simultaneously map the caves’ horizontal and vertical surfaces. Although the caves’ spatial complexity required AUV guidance by a diver, this field deployment successfully demonstrates a scan matching algorithm in a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) framework that significantly reduces and bounds the localization error for fully autonomous navigation. These methods are generalizable for AUV exploration in confined underwater environments where surfacing or pre-deployment of localization equipment are not feasible and may provide a useful step toward AUV utilization as a response tool in confined underwater disaster areas.
The Kallisti Limnes, carbon dioxide-accumulating subsea pools

(Nature Publishing Group, 2015-07-16) Camilli, Richard ; Nomikou, Paraskevi ; Escartin, Javier E. ; Ridao, Pere ; Mallios, Angelos ; Kilias, Stephanos P. ; Argyraki, Ariadne ; Andreani, Muriel ; Ballu, Valerie ; Campos, Ricard ; Deplus, Christine ; Gabsi, Taoufic ; Garcia, Rafael ; Gracias, Nuno ; Hurtos, Natalia ; Magi, Lluis ; Mevel, Catherine ; Moreira, Manuel ; Palomeras, Narcis ; Pot, Olivier ; Ribas, David ; Ruzie, Lorraine ; Sakellariou, Dimitris

Natural CO2 releases from shallow marine hydrothermal vents are assumed to mix into the water column, and not accumulate into stratified seafloor pools. We present newly discovered shallow subsea pools located within the Santorini volcanic caldera of the Southern Aegean Sea, Greece, that accumulate CO2 emissions from geologic reservoirs. This type of hydrothermal seafloor pool, containing highly concentrated CO2, provides direct evidence of shallow benthic CO2 accumulations originating from sub-seafloor releases. Samples taken from within these acidic pools are devoid of calcifying organisms, and channel structures among the pools indicate gravity driven flow, suggesting that seafloor release of CO2 at this site may preferentially impact benthic ecosystems. These naturally occurring seafloor pools may provide a diagnostic indicator of incipient volcanic activity and can serve as an analog for studying CO2 leakage and benthic accumulations from subsea carbon capture and storage sites.
Active methane venting observed at giant pockmarks along the U.S. mid-Atlantic shelf break

( 2007-11) Newman, Kori R. ; Cormier, Marie-Helene ; Weissel, Jeffrey K. ; Driscoll, Neal W. ; Kastner, Miriam ; Solomon, Evan A. ; Robertson, Gretchen ; Hill, Jenna C. ; Singh, Hanumant ; Camilli, Richard ; Eustice, Ryan M.

Detailed near-bottom investigation of a series of giant, kilometer scale, elongate pockmarks along the edge of the mid-Atlantic continental shelf confirms that methane is actively venting at the site. Dissolved methane concentrations, which were measured with a commercially available methane sensor (METS) designed by Franatech GmbH mounted on an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), are as high as 100 nM. These values are well above expected background levels (1-4 nM) for the open ocean. Sediment pore water geochemistry gives further evidence of methane advection through the seafloor. Isotopically light carbon in the dissolved methane samples indicates a primarily biogenic source. The spatial distribution of the near-bottom methane anomalies (concentrations above open ocean background), combined with water column salinity and temperature vertical profiles, indicate that methane-rich water is not present across the entire width of the pockmarks, but is laterally restricted to their edges. We suggest that venting is primarily along the top of the pockmark walls with some advection and dispersion due to local currents. The highest methane concentrations observed with the METS sensor occur at a small, circular pockmark at the southern end of the study area. This observation is compatible with a scenario where the larger, elongate pockmarks evolve through coalescing smaller pockmarks.
Eruption of a deep-sea mud volcano triggers rapid sediment movement

(Nature Publishing Group, 2014-11-11) Feseker, Tomas ; Boetius, Antje ; Wenzhofer, Frank ; Blandin, Jerome ; Olu, Karine ; Yoerger, Dana R. ; Camilli, Richard ; German, Christopher R. ; de Beer, Dirk

Submarine mud volcanoes are important sources of methane to the water column. However, the temporal variability of their mud and methane emissions is unknown. Methane emissions were previously proposed to result from a dynamic equilibrium between upward migration and consumption at the seabed by methane-consuming microbes. Here we show non-steady-state situations of vigorous mud movement that are revealed through variations in fluid flow, seabed temperature and seafloor bathymetry. Time series data for pressure, temperature, pH and seafloor photography were collected over 431 days using a benthic observatory at the active Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano. We documented 25 pulses of hot subsurface fluids, accompanied by eruptions that changed the landscape of the mud volcano. Four major events triggered rapid sediment uplift of more than a metre in height, substantial lateral flow of muds at average velocities of 0.4 m per day, and significant emissions of methane and CO2 from the seafloor.
The 2005 Chios ancient shipwreck survey : new methods for underwater archaeology

(American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2009-04) Foley, Brendan P. ; Dellaporta, Katerina ; Sakellariou, Dimitris ; Bingham, Brian S. ; Camilli, Richard ; Eustice, Ryan M. ; Evagelistis, Dionysis ; Ferrini, Vicki L. ; Katsaros, Kostas ; Kourkoumelis, Dimitris ; Mallios, Angelos ; Micha, Paraskevi ; Mindell, David A. ; Roman, Christopher N. ; Singh, Hanumant ; Switzer, David S. ; Theodoulou, Theotokis

In 2005 a Greek and American interdisciplinary team investigated two shipwrecks off the coast of Chios dating to the 4th-century b.c. and the 2nd/1st century. The project pioneered archaeological methods of precision acoustic, digital image, and chemical survey using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and in-situ sensors, increasing the speed of data acquisition while decreasing costs. The AUV recorded data revealing the physical dimensions, age, cargo, and preservation of the wrecks. The earlier wreck contained more than 350 amphoras, predominantly of Chian type, while the Hellenistic wreck contained about 40 Dressel 1C amphoras. Molecular biological analysis of two amphoras from the 4th-century wreck revealed ancient DNA of olive, oregano, and possibly mastic, part of a cargo outbound from Chios.
Chemical data quantify Deepwater Horizon hydrocarbon flow rate and environmental distribution

( 2011-11-11) Ryerson, Thomas B. ; Camilli, Richard ; Kessler, John D. ; Kujawinski, Elizabeth B. ; Reddy, Christopher M. ; Valentine, David L. ; Atlas, Elliot ; Blake, Donald R. ; de Gouw, Joost ; Meinardi, Simone ; Parrish, David D. ; Peischl, Jeff ; Seewald, Jeffrey S. ; Warneke, Carsten

Detailed airborne, surface, and subsurface chemical measurements, primarily obtained in May and June 2010, are used to quantify initial hydrocarbon compositions along different transport pathways – in deep subsurface plumes, in the initial surface slick, and in the atmosphere – during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Atmospheric measurements are consistent with a limited area of surfacing oil, with implications for leaked hydrocarbon mass transport and oil drop size distributions. The chemical data further suggest relatively little variation in leaking hydrocarbon composition over time. While readily soluble hydrocarbons made up ~25% of the leaking mixture by mass, subsurface chemical data show these compounds made up ~69% of the deep plume mass; only ~31% of deep plume mass was initially transported in the form of trapped oil droplets. Mass flows along individual transport pathways are also derived from atmospheric and subsurface chemical data. Subsurface hydrocarbon composition, dissolved oxygen, and dispersant data are used to provide a new assessment of release of hydrocarbons from the leaking well. We use the chemical measurements to estimate that (7.8±1.9) x106 kg of hydrocarbons leaked on June 10, 2010, directly accounting for roughly three-quarters of the total leaked mass on that day. The average environmental release rate of (10.1 ± 2.0) x106 kg/day derived using atmospheric and subsurface chemical data agrees within uncertainties with the official average leak rate of (10.2 ± 1.0) x106 kg/day derived using physical and optical methods.
Improving resource management for unattended observation of the marginal ice zone using autonomous underwater gliders

(Frontiers Media, 2021-01-18) Duguid, Zachary ; Camilli, Richard

We present control policies for use with a modified autonomous underwater glider that are intended to enable remote launch/recovery and long-range unattended survey of the Arctic's marginal ice zone (MIZ). This region of the Arctic is poorly characterized but critical to the dynamics of ice advance and retreat. Due to the high cost of operating support vessels in the Arctic, the proposed glider architecture minimizes external infrastructure requirements for navigation and mission updates to brief and infrequent satellite updates on the order of once per day. This is possible through intelligent power management in combination with hybrid propulsion, adaptive velocity control, and dynamic depth band selection based on real-time environmental state estimation. We examine the energy savings, range improvements, decreased communication requirements, and temporal consistency that can be attained with the proposed glider architecture and control policies based on preliminary field data, and we discuss a future MIZ survey mission concept in the Arctic. Although the sensing and control policies presented here focus on under ice missions with an unattended underwater glider, they are hardware independent and are transferable to other robotic vehicle classes, including in aerial and space domains.
Using a Ladder of Seeps with computer decision processes to explore for and evaluate cold seeps on the Costa Rica active margin

(Frontiers Media, 2021-03-11) Vrolijk, Peter ; Summa, Lori ; Ayton, Benjamin ; Nomikou, Paraskevi ; Hüpers, Andre ; Kinnaman, Frank ; Sylva, Sean ; Valentine, David L. ; Camilli, Richard

Natural seeps occur at the seafloor as loci of fluid flow where the flux of chemical compounds into the ocean supports unique biologic communities and provides access to proxy samples of deep subsurface processes. Cold seeps accomplish this with minimal heat flux. While individual expertize is applied to locate seeps, such knowledge is nowhere consolidated in the literature, nor are there explicit approaches for identifying specific seep types to address discrete scientific questions. Moreover, autonomous exploration for seeps lacks any clear framework for efficient seep identification and classification. To address these shortcomings, we developed a Ladder of Seeps applied within new decision-assistance algorithms (Spock) to assist in seep exploration on the Costa Rica margin during the R/V Falkor 181210 cruise in December, 2018. This Ladder of Seeps [derived from analogous astrobiology criteria proposed by Neveu et al. (2018)] was used to help guide human and computer decision processes for ROV mission planning. The Ladder of Seeps provides a methodical query structure to identify what information is required to confirm a seep either: 1) supports seafloor life under extreme conditions, 2) supports that community with active seepage (possible fluid sample), or 3) taps fluids that reflect deep, subsurface geologic processes, but the top rung may be modified to address other scientific questions. Moreover, this framework allows us to identify higher likelihood seep targets based on existing incomplete or easily acquired data, including MBES (Multi-beam echo sounder) water column data. The Ladder of Seeps framework is based on information about the instruments used to collect seep information (e.g., are seeps detectable by the instrument with little chance of false positives?) and contextual criteria about the environment in which the data are collected (e.g., temporal variability of seep flux). Finally, the assembled data are considered in light of a Last-Resort interpretation, which is only satisfied once all other plausible data interpretations are excluded by observation. When coupled with decision-making algorithms that incorporate expert opinion with data acquired during the Costa Rica experiment, the Ladder of Seeps proved useful for identifying seeps with deep-sourced fluids, as evidenced by results of geochemistry analyses performed following the expedition.
Faster-than-real-time hybrid automotive underwater glider simulation for ocean mapping

(The Korean Society of Marine Environment and Safety, 2022-05-28) Choi, Woen-Sug ; Bingham, Brian ; Camilli, Richard

The introduction of autonomous underwater gliders (AUGs) specifically addresses the reduction of operational costs that were previously prohibited with conventional autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) using a "scaling-down" design philosophy by utilizing the characteristics of autonomous drifters to far extend operation duration and coverage. Long-duration, wide-area missions raise the cost and complexity of in-water testing for novel approaches to autonomous mission planning. As a result, a simulator that supports the rapid design, development, and testing of autonomy solutions across a wide range using software-in-the-loop simulation at faster-than-real-time speeds becomes critical. This paper describes a faster-than-real-time AUG simulator that can support high-resolution bathymetry for a wide variety of ocean environments, including ocean currents, various sensors, and vehicle dynamics. On top of the de facto standard ROS-Gazebo framework and open-sourced underwater vehicle simulation packages, features specific to AUGs for ocean mapping are developed. For vehicle dynamics, the next-generation hybrid autonomous underwater gliders (Hybrid-AUGs) operate with both the buoyancy engine and the thrusters to improve navigation for bathymetry mappings, e.g., line trajectory, are is implemented since because it can also describe conventional AUGs without the thrusters. The simulation results are validated with experiments while operating at 120 times faster than the real-time.
A shared autonomy system for precise and efficient remote underwater manipulation

(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2024-07-22) Phung, Amy ; Billings, Gideon ; Daniele, Andrea F. ; Walter, Matthew R. ; Camilli, Richard

Conventional underwater intervention operations using robotic vehicles require expert teleoperators and limit interaction with remote scientists. In this article, we present the shared autonomy for remote collaboration (SHARC) framework that enables novice operators to cooperatively conduct underwater sampling and manipulation tasks. With SHARC, operators can plan and complete manipulation tasks using natural language or hand gestures through a virtual reality (SHARC-VR) interface. The interface provides remote operators with a contextual 3-D scene understanding that is updated according to bandwidth availability. Evaluation of the SHARC framework through controlled lab experiments demonstrates that SHARC-VR enables novice operators to complete manipulation tasks in framerate-limited conditions (i.e., 0.1–0.5 frames per second) faster than expert pilots using a conventional topside controller. For both novice and expert users, the SHARC-VR interface also increases the task completion rate and improves sampling precision. The SHARC framework is readily extensible to other hardware architectures, including terrestrial and space systems.

Camilli Richard

Last Name

First Name

ORCID

Filters

Author

Subject

Date

Type

Has files

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results