Workshop: Velocity Measurements from Gliders

WORKSHOP:

Measurements of Current Velocity, Turbulence and Acoustic Backscatter from Ocean Gliders

Register for the workshop here

2012 Ocean Sciences Meeting

Tuesday, 21 February, 12:30 - 2 PM

Hosted by:
Atle Lohrmann, Chief Technology Officer, Nortek AS
Peter Rusello, Research Scientist, NortekUSA

This workshop presents an overview of the measurement and analysis methods using broad band and pulse coherent acoustic Doppler current profilers to observe mean velocity, turbulence, and acoustic backscatter from a variety of moving platforms, with a focus on glider applications.  Invited speakers will give presentations on their work in this new field.

Observations of mean current velocity and turbulence in coastal and open seas are inherently important for a wide range of scientific studies including mixing across the thermocline, nutrient and plankton dynamics, and sediment transport.  Intrinsically difficult to measure, particularly over long temporal and spatial scales, velocity measurements have typically been constrained to data sets from individual moorings or expensive field programs. 

New equipment and advanced analysis methods have been developed to make observations of mean and turbulent velocity from moving platforms such as ocean gliders and vertical profilers.   These techniques allow for increased temporal and spatial scale observations with reduced costs of expensive ship time.

• Introduction to velocity & turbulence measurements on moving platforms

• Measurement opportunity
• Analysis complexity
• New hardware and firmware solution
• Data collection methodologies
• Raw and processed data

• Data analysis and corrections on moving platforms

• Shear method
• Inverse method
• Optimal state estimation
• Models of platform motion to estimate speed
• Ascent /descent rate from pressure measurements
• Self-measured velocity from current profiler
• GPS data

• User experience reports

• Acoustic backscatter processing methods from gliders - Sunke Schmidtko, University of East Anglia
• Current profiling processing methods from gliders - Robert Todd, WHOI
• Turbulent velocity processing methods from moving platforms - Tom Farrar, WHOI

• Integrated glider solution

• iRobot 1KA Seaglider ADCP system
• Data examples
• Processing toolbox