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Underwater Gliders

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Book cover Observing the Oceans in Real Time

Part of the book series: Springer Oceanography ((SPRINGEROCEAN))

Abstract

This chapter focuses on underwater gliders, placing them in the context of the recent surge in autonomous observing technologies, reviewing the underlying design philosophy and providing a brief history of their development. Gliders resolve scales of kilometers and hours, with the seasonal to annual endurance required to characterize climate variability and capture episodic events – a region of the spatial-temporal sampling spectrum that had previously been challenging to address. Examples of gliders applied to sustained studies of large-scale variability in boundary regions, to physical and biological/biogeochemical process studies, and to studies of polar regions illustrate strategies for efficient use that capitalize on the platform’s strengths. Although gliders are a mature platform with demonstrated scientific output, improvements to reliability, ease of use, and range would have large impacts on platform efficiency, enabling broader adoption and application to a wider range of scientific and operational tasks.

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Acknowledgments

Initial glider development was supported by the US Office of Naval Research (ONR), with subsequent support from the US National Science Foundation, the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the US Office of Naval Research. The technology development and science reported here represent that work of a large number of people from institutions that include Oregon State University, University of Hawaii, University of Western Australia, Rutgers University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the University of Washington. The authors thank Luc Rainville and Barry Ma for their contributions to this chapter. This chapter was prepared with support from the ONR under grants N00014-13-1-0478 (CML), N00014-13-1-0478 (CML), N00014-13-1-0483 (DLR), and NOAA Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division under grant NA15OAR4320071 (DLR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Craig M. Lee

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Daniel L. Rudnick

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  1. Craig M. Lee
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  2. Daniel L. Rudnick
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Correspondence to Craig M. Lee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    R. Venkatesan

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, Massachusetts, USA

    Amit Tandon

  3. Physics Laboratory and School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Eric D'Asaro

  4. National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    M. A. Atmanand

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Lee, C.M., Rudnick, D.L. (2018). Underwater Gliders. In: Venkatesan, R., Tandon, A., D'Asaro, E., Atmanand, M. (eds) Observing the Oceans in Real Time. Springer Oceanography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66493-4_7

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