Abstract
Ocean gliders are increasingly a platform of choice to close the gap between traditional ship-based observations and remote sensing from floats (e.g., Argo) and satellites. However, gliders move slowly and are strongly influenced by currents, reducing useful battery life, challenging mission planning, and increasing pilot workload. We describe a new cloud-based interactive tool to plan glider navigation called OceanGNS© (Ocean Glider Navigation System). OceanGNS integrates current forecasts and historical data to enable glider route–planning at varying scales. OceanGNS utilizes optimal route–planning by minimizing low current velocity constraints by applying a Dijkstra algorithm. The complexity of the resultant path is reduced using a Ramer-Douglas Pueckler model. Users can choose the weighting for historical and forecast data as well as bathymetry and time constraints. Bathymetry is considered using a cost function approach when shallow water is not desirable to find an optimal path that also lies in deeper water. Initial field tests with OceanGNS in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Labrador Sea show promising results, improving the glider speed to the destination 10–30%. We use these early tests to demonstrate the utility of OceanGNS to extend glider endurance. This paper provides an overview of the tool, the results from field trials, and a future outlook.
Highlights
The use of autonomous systems for ocean data collection is growing, especially underwater gliders (Testor et al, 2010, 2019), with various applications ranging from coastal to open ocean missions (Liblik et al, 2016)
This paper presents a mission planning tool for ocean gliders—the Ocean Glider Navigation System (OceanGNS)—a streamlined cloud-based glider navigation service to improve glider piloting experience and increase mission endurance
Ocean gliders are frequently used to close observing gaps by traditional remote sensing platforms. They have increased in numbers and are becoming a mature technology
Summary
The use of autonomous systems for ocean data collection is growing, especially underwater gliders (Testor et al, 2010, 2019), with various applications ranging from coastal to open ocean missions (Liblik et al, 2016) Owing to their design (Davis et al, 2002), gliders are strongly influenced by water motions such as currents, eddies, fronts (Rudnick et al, 2004; Rudnick, 2016). A recent test with a Slocum glider deployed in the North-Atlantic successfully utilized route– planning to maximize the glider speed during an ocean crossing (Ramos et al, 2018) Their approach was based on Lagrangian coherent structures to find the optimal path in a dynamic flow field. We discuss limitations and provide a future outlook for OceanGNS
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
