Rutgers University, Coastal Ocean Observation Lab         Marine & Coastal Sciences
RU COOL Research Results Data Scientists RMCS
cool
cool

General Information
- Glider Tutorial
- Development News
- Operation Gulfcast (Red Tide Study)

Glider Locations
- Latest Glider Positions
- Surface Dialogs
- Argos Satellite

Current Data from Glider Robots
- RU01
- RU02
- RU03
- RU04

Archived Data Products
- Temperature
- Salinity
- Density
- Fluorescence
- Backscatter 440
- Backscatter 670
- Course Transects

RU COOL Home

Autonomous  Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)
a.k.a. Gliders

What is an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle?


A Glider is a 1.8 m long torpedo-shaped winged autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) which moves up and down in the ocean by changing buoyancy. Wings allow steerable gliding, thus horizontal propulsion. This vehicle maneuvers through the ocean at a forward speed of 30-40 cm/s in a sawtooth-shaped gliding trajectory, observing temperature, conductivity, etc. versus depth, and, at the surface, fix position via an on-board GPS receiver, and communicates via appropriate satellites. The Coastal Ocean Observation Lab uses Slocum Autonomous Underwater  Vehicles (AUVs), built by Webb Research Corporation (Falmouth, MA). 

AUV MPEG Movie Clip
Movie Clip. Glider gliding in the Gulf of Mexico, January 14, 2003. Glider is performing a bottom crash test. Once it hits the bottom and realizes it is not moving forward anymore, the Glider will turn upwards to continue its track.

The Slocum Autonomous Underwater Gliding Vehicle is an integrated instrument platform designed to operate in the coastal oceans. It is designed such that, by adjusting its volume to weight ratio, it dives and climbs in a saw-tooth pattern to a predetermined set of waypoints. The result is a low cost, highly adaptable autonomous underwater vehicle with a very low power requirement. The end-user programs the glider via text based mission files, which instruct the glider to dive and climb to a predetermined set of waypoints (latitudes and longitudes). Gliders are capable of communicating with a shore based computer or human user via high frequency radio transmission (FreeWave Technologies) as well as by satellite (Iridium Satellite LLC). The estimated range of operation is 1500km.

While the majority of the glider is reserved for glider mechanics, battery storage and communication equipment, a section is devoted specifically to scientific payload. Future plans include outfitting the vehicles with a suite of miniaturized physical and bio-optical instrumentation that measure water properties including temperature and salinity, as well as the absorption and scattering of light in the water column. These instruments, combined with the mobility and long-range communication capabilities of the glider, will provide continuous, near real time information on ocean physics and biology. This information will help to improve the accuracy of oceanic forecasts and ground truthing of ocean color satellite algorithms.

 

 

©2004 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
Coastal Ocean Observation Lab
Questions or comments: flounder@arctic.rutgers.edu