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

Welcome to the RUCOOL autonomous underwater gliding vehicle (AUGV) home page.  The Slocum Coastal Electric Glider (Webb Research Company, Falmouth, MA, Figure 1) is an autonomous underwater vehicle that converts changes in vehicle buoyancy to vertical motion.  A pair of fixed wings provides forward momentum to move horizontally through the ocean.  While the majority of the glider is reserved for glider mechanics, battery storage and communication equipment, a section is devoted exclusively to scientific payload.  A suite of miniaturized physical and bio-optical instruments, which measure in situ water properties including temperature, salinity, and the absorption and scattering of light in the water column, have been and are currently under development for placement in the glider’s science payload bay (Figure 2).

The Coastal Ocean Observation Lab at Rutgers University Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences (IMCS) and Webb Research Corporation are currently focusing on the development and deployment of a fleet of gliders to continuously patrol the coastal oceans.  The instruments, combined with the mobility and long-range communication capabilities of the glider, are providing continuous, near real time information on ocean physics and biology.  Beginning in November 2003, a single glider has been deployed each month with the task of patrolling the New Jersey Shelf Observing Systems ENDURANCE LINE.  The Endurance Line begins about ~5km southwest of the Rutgers University Marine Field Station and runs offshore to the continental shelf break, approximately 120km.  Mission durations range from 2 – 4 weeks, depending on the instrument package, and have allowed the COOL lab to begin building a historical database on the physics and biology of the New Jersey Shelf.

In addition to the Endurance Line Project, we’ve undertaken a number of other concurrent glider deployments in areas including Martha’s Vineyard, MA, Virginia Beach, VA, the West Florida Shelf and Sandy Hook National Recreation Area in New Jersey.  All glider communication is accomplished via Iridium Satellite phone link, allowing us to deploy gliders in remote locations while handling all data transfer and re-tasking from IMCS in New Brunswick, NJ.

The aim of this page is to provide the user with information on the glider vehicle, mechanics and instrumentation in addition to a data archive, which will allow the user to easily access current and archived data products provided by the gliders.

©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