Ocean Glider Subsurface Ocean Samplers

"The results presented are remarkable in that they present virtually synoptic descriptions of the main oceanographic features of the area"
Independent reviewer for Water Corp Southern Seawater Desalination Project

These gliders represent a remarkable class of very low powered, long endurance and highly reliable marine robots that have been successfully deployed on thousands of missions all over the world. The glider is a multi-sensor platform capable of being remotely piloted to move to specific horizontal and depth locations. Moving in a sawtooth vertical profile using variable buoyancy, the glider moves both horizontally and vertically.

Gliders have been used to acquire data for:

• baseline marine environmental assessment, management and compliance
• dredge plume monitoring
• treated waste water (sewage) dilution and fate;
• desalination plant seawater intake and pre-treatment design, and brine discharge water quality and dispersion
• continental shelf and coastal dynamics
• responses to tropical cyclones, internal wave and turbidity research.

Gliders are deployed from a small boat close inshore, and from that point onwards operate autonomously until new commands are sent from the web based mission control. As a result, vessel and personnel costs are minimal. Continuous operation with single or multiple gliders enables the dynamic (temporal and spatial) features of sub-surface coastal waters to be cost efficiently studied and mapped around the clock. A typical 20 day mission will deliver approximately 3 million data points.

• depth range from 10m to1000 m
• long-range, up to ~ 5000 km
• long endurance, up to ~ 5 months
• tracking, station keeping and watch circle modes
• near real-time data transfer via satellite with global coverage
• remote control for updating mission parameters
• multiple sensor payload, configurable for specific applications

Ocean gliders are ideal for sub-surface sampling at local or regional scales, in shallow coastal waters through to deep ocean sites. Carrying multiple sensors, the Glider can be programmed to patrol for weeks at a time, surfacing to transmit their data to shore while downloading new instructions at regular intervals.

Since 2007, Fastwave`s multi-award winning marine environmental monitoring systems have been providing real-time subsea data for offshore projects operated by Woodside, Chevron, BHP and Conoco Phillips. The dynamic data acquisition capabilities of gliders complement Fastwave`s in-situ monitoring systems, and in combination can provide significantly enhanced levels of insight and understanding concerning the environmental parameters being measured.