ISO/TC 8/SC 13 - Marine technology

This document specifies the technical requirements for system makeup, ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) instruments, active sources, field design, exploration operation, data processing for active source exploration with OBS, and their relative terms. This document is applicable to active source exploration with OBS, but also a useful reference to the passive source exploration with OBS. It can be used in seabed resource exploration, geological disaster surveillance and submarine geoscience research.

This document provides general technical guidance for the operation of marine environment impact assessments (MEIA) to assess the degree of impact of deep-sea activities of exploration and exploitation for mineral resources to the marine environment. It does not cover matters related to the legal framework for MEIA and deep-sea activities on energy resources.

This document provides requirements and recommendations for conducting marine surveys of interstitial biota in marine sediments. It includes the specification of technical methods for the investigation of marine sediments, foraminifera, ostracoda, radiolaria, diatoms, coccoliths, sedimentary sporopollen, benthic viruses, benthic microbes (including bacteria, archaea and fungi), benthic microalgae, benthic protozoa and metazoan meiobenthos. This document is applicable to marine surveys in diverse benthic habitats at any seabed, such as benthic sediments of coastal zones, shallow seas, or deep-sea waters.

This document provides guidelines for product water quality of seawater reverse osmosis (RO) desalination that is used for municipal water supply. It specifies water quality parameters and ranges, monitoring frequency and test methods to ensure the compatibility of the product water with the pipelines.

This document specifies a bioassay for the determination of the presence of unknown toxic contaminants in test seawater (see Figure A.1). It is based on the inhibition of photosynthetic activity of the marine cyanobacterium Cyanobium sp. (NIES-981) by such toxic contaminants. The inhibition is determined based on delayed fluorescence (DF) intensity. The method is rapid and requires less laboratory space than standard bioassays. Hence, it can be used on-board to generate basic data for seawater quality management at deep-sea mining sites where time and space are extremely limited.

This document specifies a general protocol for the observation of the meiofaunal community in the deep seabed. The standardized method can be used in any phase [baseline data acquisition, monitoring during and after mining (testing)] accompanying resource development, making it easier to compare data beyond differences in workers and waters. This document is intended for marine environment impact assessments and other occasions where long-term image-based data are required.

This document specifies minimum requirements and provides recommendations for the gathering of image-based data at seafloor where epifauna and benthopelagic fauna with a minimum dimension of 1 cm are used as a proxy for the status of the biological community.

This document defines terms, specifies test methods and provides reporting requirements for marine sensor specifications to ensure a consistent reporting by manufacturers. It is applicable to those devices known as conductivity-temperature-depth (CTDs), sound velocity probes, multi-parameter sondes and dissolved gas sensors, that measure parameters such as conductivity, temperature, pressure, sound speed, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, and chlorophyll in seawater. It is also generally applicable to all marine environment instruments. NOTE 1: A CTD directly measures conductivity, temperature, and pressure. Depth is derived from pressure using an equation. NOTE 2: The term sound velocity probe is widely used to describe instruments that measure sound speed. In this document the term ?sound velocity is used when describing the type of sensor, and the term sound speed is used when describing the parameter or measurand, but these terms can be used interchangeably.

This document specifies the overall framework of ocean hydro-meteorological observation systems, including the system function composition, the data structure type and data transmission format and protocol, as well as the input and output interface. These systems support automatic measurement of e.g. buoy, submersible and shore station instruments, with output interfaces, and provide observations on e.g. water temperature, salinity, depth, current, ocean wave, temperature, pressure, humidity, wind, visibility and precipitation. They have the ability to receive, store, display, process, and analyze data. This document is intended for both developers of ocean observation systems and ocean observers.

This document specifies performance requirements and gives recommendations for the design of breathing air supply and CO2 absorption systems of manned submersibles, capable of maintaining suitable life support conditions in the manned compartments. It is applicable to manned submersibles where the internal pressure of the manned compartment is normally maintained at or near to one atmosphere. It is not applicable to submersibles where the occupants endure pressures higher than one atmosphere (such as in diving bells, for example). It is not applicable to submersibles designed to carry passengers or divers in a separate compartment capable of being pressurised to higher than one atmosphere inside the pressure hull (such as in submarine rescue compartments, for example).

This document specifies a test method for the hydrostatic pressure test for pressure hull and buoyancy materials of submersibles. The test sequence comprises a tightness test and the hydrostatic pressure test itself. It can also include continuous pressurization and depressurization tests, long-term static load and cycling external pressure tests. This document is applicable to the pressure structure of manned submersibles and unmanned submersibles, including the pressure hull, its accessories (such as viewports, hatches and connectors) and buoyancy materials. The long-term static load and cycling external pressure tests are only applicable to buoyancy material. This document is not applicable to submarines and other submersibles parking or operating underwater for more than one week.