Design of a New Wire Flying Vehicle for Deep Water Profiling

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The PIs propose to complete a design feasibility study and the scale model testing phase for a new vehicle concept to enable higher resolution profiling in the deep ocean when used in conjunction with a ship-towed package. The proposed vehicle will slide up and down a towed wire in a controlled manner using the lift created by wing foils. Wing foils will provide a novel low power method of propulsion that utilizes the free stream velocity of the wire moving through the water. In the full size vehicle a battery powered electronics package consisting of a small microprocessor, depth sensor and motor actuator will control the foil angle in a closed loop fashion to achieve a desired depth or depth profile. A payload bay within the vehicle will accommodate a variety of oceanographic water column sensors. The main benefits such a vehicle will provide are two fold. Preliminary evaluation of this new concept suggests the wire flying vehicle could achieve glide ratios of one-to-one or greater over a wide operating range of tow configurations. This would provide greater horizontal resolution in deep water than is currently possible with undulated towed bodies in shallow water. Additionally, this system would be used in conjunction with any towed instrument package and produce a complementary data set that could not be obtained by the tow body alone. Broader ImpactsThe proposed continued development of a wire flying profiler can potentially benefit many different disciplines throughout oceanography, independently of geographical area. The most tangible impacts are likely to be increased understanding of deep ocean mixing and of small features such as submesoscale eddies that can play major roles in material transport. These impacts will directly and significantly impact, through improved understanding of mixing and small-scale dynamics, our ability to run global models including those used for prediction of climate change impacts. This in itself comprises a broad and significant societal benefit. Outreach activities are not specifically mentioned but are likely, in any case, to be difficult within the context of a technological development project. One graduate student, and several undergraduate students, will gain experience in engineering and use of oceanographic instrumentation.