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R/V Roger Revelle is a highly capable Global Class research vessel that operates worldwide as part of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet. Operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography as a shared-use facility, Roger Revelle is available to all scientists supported by U.S. federal, state, and other agencies through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS).
Scientific Capabilities
R/V Roger Revelle (AGOR 24) is a general-purpose oceanographic research vessel constructed by Halter Marine Inc. and delivered to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) for operation by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1996. The vessel completed an extensive midlife refit in 2020 that included a complete repower, new controls, fuel economy and emissions improvements, habitability upgrades and substantially improved scientific capabilities.
The vessel's suite of shared-use instrumentation is carefully maintained and regularly upgraded to offer scientists the most capable sensors available. Notable features include an under-hull acoustics gondola that significantly improves the vessel’s acoustic capabilities. The gondola hosts most of the ship's acoustics sensors, which include deep- and shallow-water multibeam mapping systems, a multi-frequency midwater imaging system, a sub-bottom profiler, and several acoustic Doppler current profilers operating at different frequencies. The gondola also houses the Hydrographic Doppler Sonar System (HDSS), a one-of-a-kind dual-frequency (50-140 kHz) Doppler sonar built and maintained by the Scripps Multiscale Ocean Dynamics group, which measures current shear at high resolution.
Other key capabilities include redundant motion sensors with failover protection, an X-band radar that measures surface wave properties, an advanced computer network with wired and wireless access for all scientists, triply-redundant (HiSeasNet, Fleet Broadband, 3G cellular) off-ship internet connections that provide uninterrupted web access, and a robust suite of modern, well-maintained sensing systems.
These capabilities, in addition to a suite of underway instruments, result in a capable and highly adaptable platform for scientific research across all disciplines of marine science.
R/V Roger Revelle is operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography under a charter agreement with the Office of Naval Research. Roger Revelle is one of six major oceanographic research vessels owned by the U.S. Navy and operated for shared-use through the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System .
The National Science Foundation is the primary U.S federal agency supporting research at the frontiers of knowledge, across all fields of science and engineering (S&E) and all levels of S&E education. Important support for research vessel operations at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is supported by the National Science Foundation (including awards 1119644, 1212770, 1227624, and 1321002).