Publication of Special Edition of "Limnology and Oceanography"

自主和拉格朗日平台和传感器（ALPS）的最新进展已广泛应用于物理、化学和生物研究。这类仪器有助于在相关的时间和空间尺度上进行采样，同时提供捕获偶发性事件的多种实现所需的连续存在，并表征较长期的季节和年际变化。剖面浮标，包括滑翔机和漂流器在内的自主水下航行器，提供高分辨率的空间覆盖，通过水柱进行垂直采样，以及其他技术无法轻易实现的扩展部署（数天至数年）。这些新的观测能力的新应用利用空间覆盖和持续存在的结合来推进我们对物理、化学和生物过程的理解。随着ALPS技术的成熟，它们已经从专门的工程/科学团队转变为支持更大的科学社区的主流应用程序。早期科学任务的结果现在已经可以获得，这是一个很好的时机来回顾ALPS技术如何应用于解决引人注目的科学问题，并展示这些项目带来的理解进展。由于这一奖励，Moline博士和他的同事们负责制作了一期《湖沼学和海洋学》特刊，题为“自主和拉格朗日平台和传感器的科学结果”，作为提高自主系统在更广泛的科学和管理社区中所取得进展的认识的一种手段，展示了这些系统对科学研究的可访问性，最重要的是，强调这些发展中的系统所带来的科学发现。

Recent advances in autonomous and Lagrangian platforms and sensors (ALPS) have been applied to physical, chemical and biological studies on a wide range of scales. This class of instruments facilitates sampling at relevant temporal and spatial scales while providing the continuous presence needed to capture multiple realizations of episodic events and characterize longer-term seasonal and inter-annual changes. Profiling floats, autonomous underwater vehicles, including gliders and drifters, offer a combination of high-resolution spatial coverage, vertical sampling through the water column and extended (days to years) deployments that cannot be easily achieved with other technologies. Novel applications of these new observational capabilities exploit the combination of spatial coverage and continuous presence to advance our understanding of physical, chemical and biological processes. As ALPS technologies mature they have transitioned from specialized engineering/science teams to mainstream applications supporting the larger scientific community. Results from early science missions are now becoming available, making this an excellent time to review how ALPS technologies have been applied to address compelling science questions and present advances in understanding that have resulted from these programs. As a result of this reward, Dr. Moline and colleagues are responsible for producing a special issue of Limnology and Oceanography, entitled "Scientific Results from Autonomous and Lagrangian Platforms and Sensors" as a means to increase awareness of the progress being made in autonomous systems to the broader scientific and management communities, demonstrate accessibility of these systems for scientific study, and, most importantly, highlight the scientific discovery that is enabled by these developing systems.