Title :
Autonomous buoyed environmental system
Author :
McDonald, Vincent K. ; Stevenson, J. Mark ; Briest, Susan G. ; Olson, Jack R.
Author_Institution :
Space & Naval Warfare Syst. Centre, US Navy, San Diego, CA, USA
fDate :
28 Sep-1 Oct 1998
Abstract :
The engineering development path of the Autonomous Buoyed Environmental Sensor (ABES) system is presented. Emphasis is on the placement of a micropower 8-bit microcontroller at each sensor, thereby enabling control, addressing, and data telemetry over a single conductor and allowing 12-bit digitization at each sensor. ABES is a lightweight, reconfigurable, integrated oceanographic measurement system intended to provide oceanographers with the opportunity to accomplish increased spatial sampling of the shallow-water ocean environment due to its ease of use and low cost compared to more traditional methods, albeit with slightly degraded accuracy and resolution. The instrument is a sensor string connected to a cylindrical electronics canister. The prototype sensor string contains one electromagnetic current meter, 3 tilt sensors, 3 magnetoresistive compasses, and 10 conductivity, temperature and depth sensors, the latter developed in conjunction with Ocean Sensors, Inc. These sensors are distributed along a 40-m cable. A system controller GPS receiver, and spread-spectrum radio are housed in the 1-m long electronics canister. Together, these components weigh 10 kg in air and occupy a volume of 5 l
Keywords :
oceanographic equipment; ABES; CTD; autonomous buoyed environmental system; buoy; conductivity temperature depth; equipment; instrument; microcontroller; ocean; telemetry; thermohaline structure; Conductors; Magnetic sensors; Microcontrollers; Oceans; Sampling methods; Sea measurements; Sensor systems; Systems engineering and theory; Telemetry; Temperature sensors;
Conference_Titel :
OCEANS '98 Conference Proceedings
Conference_Location :
Nice
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5045-6
DOI :
10.1109/OCEANS.1998.725807