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Initial set of oceanographic data from Bay of Bengal using an underwater glider as mobile sensor node


Affiliations
1 College of Engineering, Guindy Campus, Anna University, Chennai 600 025, India
2 National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pallikaranai, Chennai 600 100, India
 

Underwater gliders measure high-resolution spatiotemporal oceanographic data. However, glider operations have not been carried out in the Indian Ocean region so far. In September 2013, the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai introduced a mobile sensor node, the underwater glider ‘Barathi’, for observation in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). Herein we address ballasting procedure of the glider operated in highly variable density waters of the BoB. The temperature and conductivity data collected by us are strongly correlated with commercially available instrument with coefficient of determination R2 > 0.97. This article reports results from a long-duration (127 days) mission in 2014. The variation of temperature, salinity, density, sound velocity, mixed layer depth, sonic layer depth and lower cutoff frequency of surface duct along 13°N lat. and between 80.76°E and 86.28°E long. are also presented. The results show a trace of the East Indian Coastal Current. The glider operations demonstrate a novel in situ observation platform in the BoB.

Keywords

Mobile sensor node, oceanographic data, underwater glider, underwater acoustics.
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  • Initial set of oceanographic data from Bay of Bengal using an underwater glider as mobile sensor node

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Authors

Shijo Zacharia
College of Engineering, Guindy Campus, Anna University, Chennai 600 025, India
R. Seshasayanan
College of Engineering, Guindy Campus, Anna University, Chennai 600 025, India
V. Gowthaman
National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pallikaranai, Chennai 600 100, India
S. Muthukumaravel
National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pallikaranai, Chennai 600 100, India
Tata Sudhakar
National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pallikaranai, Chennai 600 100, India
M. A. Atmanand
National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pallikaranai, Chennai 600 100, India

Abstract


Underwater gliders measure high-resolution spatiotemporal oceanographic data. However, glider operations have not been carried out in the Indian Ocean region so far. In September 2013, the National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai introduced a mobile sensor node, the underwater glider ‘Barathi’, for observation in the Bay of Bengal (BoB). Herein we address ballasting procedure of the glider operated in highly variable density waters of the BoB. The temperature and conductivity data collected by us are strongly correlated with commercially available instrument with coefficient of determination R2 > 0.97. This article reports results from a long-duration (127 days) mission in 2014. The variation of temperature, salinity, density, sound velocity, mixed layer depth, sonic layer depth and lower cutoff frequency of surface duct along 13°N lat. and between 80.76°E and 86.28°E long. are also presented. The results show a trace of the East Indian Coastal Current. The glider operations demonstrate a novel in situ observation platform in the BoB.

Keywords


Mobile sensor node, oceanographic data, underwater glider, underwater acoustics.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv109%2Fi5%2F918-929