Near-real-time reporting of the oceanic turbulent response to atmospheric forcing from unmanned autonomous vehicles

Justin Shapiro, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, United States, Louis C St. Laurent, Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, United States, Sophia Merrifield, University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States and Joel Hazard, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
Abstract:
Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) have emerged as platforms of choice for in situ microstructure measurements due to their stable flight characteristics, low hydrodynamic noise and the ability to operate continuously in harsh conditions that would halt shipboard measurements. UUVs have been inhibited from telemetering turbulence data during mission due to the high volume of raw data and the low bandwidth of satellite communication channels. Here we present a novel sensing and processing architecture that enables both measurement of microstructure and processing of that information into turbulent dissipation rate onboard a Teledyne-Webb Research G2 Slocum Glider.

This system successfully completed a multi-month mission, where it cooperatively sampled storm events in the Iceland Basin with a Boeing-Liquid Robotics SV3 Wave Glider. This coordinated sampling mission enabled undisturbed measurement of sea surface forcing during storm events with winds exceeding 35 knots, wave heights exceeding 8m, and water column response down to 1000m. The development of operational onboard processing for near-real-time turbulence measurements provides new opportunities for adaptive environmental sampling during long-duration missions. The system is currently being adapted to additional platforms including propeller driven UUVs and profiling floats.

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