UNMANNED SYSTEMS NETWORKS FOR OCEAN RESEARCH & MONITORING

Field campaign results and future capabilities are reported for networked systems of multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) off the California and Iberian coasts, in both arctic and Antarctic ecosystems, and for coral reef ecosystems. We highlight how Integrated networks of unmanned systems provide cost-effective time series monitoring of coastal ecosystems, including response to, and recovery from short-lived coastal maritime events. A focus is on discussion of data communication technologies, methods of data archiving, and use of data analysis software to assist with real-time anomaly detection and visualization. This latter capability is critical to enabling autonomous adaptive sampling of events over appropriate temporal and spatial scales. Examples are provided of how autonomous systems integration into ocean observing systems can improve socially relevant measurements of ocean and climate dynamics.

Speaker: Dr. phil McGillivary, US Coast Guard Pacific Area