Title :
New AUV designed for lake environment monitoring
Author :
Kumagai, Michio ; Ura, Tamaki ; Kuroda, Yoji ; Walker, Ross
Author_Institution :
Lake Biwa Res. Inst., Otsu, Japan
Abstract :
We have developed an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), which can be used for lake environment monitoring. The length of the AUV is 2 m, its weight in air is 180 kg, and its maximum speed in water is 2 knots. It has two major missions: one is to monitor plankton distribution in the epilimnion by using its on-board submersible microscope, and the other is to monitor water quality in the benthic boundary layer by using a CTD instrument equipped with multiple sensors. The obtained data and images are transmitted to a surface research vessel (R/V) by ultrasonic waves, and subsequently transferred from the R/V to our base institute (Lake Biwa Research Institute) by a satellite mobile phone data link. We are expecting that this AUV will contribute to solving serious problems occurring in Lake Biwa such as cyanobacteria blooms in the epilimnion, and oxygen depletion in the benthic boundary
Keywords :
hydrological equipment; lakes; remotely operated vehicles; underwater vehicles; 180 kg; 2 m; AUV; CTD instrument; Lake Biwa; autonomous underwater vehicle; benthic boundary layer; cyanobacteria blooms; epilimnion; lake environment monitoring; on-board submersible microscope; oxygen depletion; plankton distribution; satellite mobile phone data link; water quality; Instruments; Lakes; Marine vegetation; Microscopy; Mobile handsets; Monitoring; Satellites; Surface waves; Testing; Underwater vehicles;
Conference_Titel :
Underwater Technology, 2000. UT 00. Proceedings of the 2000 International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Tokyo
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-6378-7
DOI :
10.1109/UT.2000.852519
