Using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle to Track the Thermocline Based on Peak-Gradient Detection

Author

Yanwu Zhang ; Bellingham, James G. ; Godin, M.A. ; Ryan, John P.

Author_Institution

Monterey Bay Aquarium Res. Inst., Moss Landing, CA, USA

Volume

37

Issue

3

fYear

2012

fDate

7/1/2012 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

544

Lastpage

553

Abstract

The thermocline plays a key role in underwater acoustics and marine ecology. In oceanographic surveys, it is often desirable to detect the thermocline and track its spatio-temporal variation. Mobility of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) makes it an efficient platform for thermocline tracking. In this paper, we present an autonomous algorithm for detecting and tracking the thermocline by an AUV. The key is detection and close tracking of the maximum vertical gradient of temperature. On August 31 and September 1, 2010, the Tethys AUV ran the algorithm to closely track the thermocline across a sharp temperature front in Monterey Bay, CA.

Keywords

autonomous underwater vehicles; ocean temperature; oceanographic equipment; AD 2010 08 31; AD 2010 09 01; CA; Monterey Bay; Tethys AUV; autonomous algorithm; autonomous underwater vehicle; marine ecology; oceanographic surveys; peak-gradient detection; spatio-temporal variation; temperature maximum vertical gradient; thermocline detection; thermocline tracking; underwater acoustics; Ocean temperature; Sea measurements; Temperature distribution; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors; Vehicles; Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV); peak-gradient detection; thermocline;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Oceanic Engineering, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0364-9059

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JOE.2012.2192340

Filename

6200385