CATALYST Overview
Accelerating Deep-Sea Exploration
CATALYST Mission
As a major initiative of the Waitt Institute, the CATALYST program aims to accelerate the science community’s capacity to carry out deep-sea exploration, cutting-edge scientific research and sustainable ocean policy through innovative technologies and inspired collaborations.
The CATALYST Program
The Waitt Institute’s CATALYST Program is a series of deep-sea expeditions that will significantly transform undersea exploration and the future of our oceans. The program makes available for the first time a versatile and highly portable deep-sea tool kit and operations team that is rapidly deployable all over the world. The program also represents a major milestone in the effort to integrate public and private forces in exploring and understanding our oceans.
The Waitt Institute initiated and established CATALYST in 2009 and the Institute manages all aspects of the program, including establishing partnerships, prioritizing future projects, directing expedition implementation, and serving as expedition leader.
The CATALYST Program marks an unprecedented collaboration between the Waitt Institute and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The Waitt Institute commissioned the construction of two 6000-meter REMUS AUVs, originally developed and engineered by WHOI, and has built an AUV operations team based at Woods Hole that possesses the expertise to conduct CATALYST AUV operations anywhere in the world.
CATALYST Technology
The CATALYST program makes available to the scientific community the Waitt Institute’s two REMUS 6000 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). The CATALYST AUVs have been designed to operate in depths ranging from 25 meters (82 ft) to 6,000 meters (19,685 ft or 3.73 mi). This innovative and efficient new technology can be used for numerous explorations and mapping purposes, including marine conservation, ocean health studies, geological charting and archaeological investigation.
The CATALYST AUVs can be configured to include a wide array of sensors depending upon expedition requirements. They can be used for hydrographic surveys, environmental monitoring, debris and field mapping, search and salvage operations, fishery operations, scientific sampling and mapping. As versatile research tools, the CATALYST AUVs can be outfitted with dual frequency side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profilers, conductivity/temperature sensors, pressure sensors, acoustic modems, fluorometers, optical sensors, still cameras, and acoustic imaging.
