The Miniaturized Autonomous Moored Profiler (Mini AMP)

The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of developing a compact, low power, autonomous, scalable, bottom-up profiling system for long-term (up to 6 months) deployments. This Miniaturized, Autononomous, Moored Profiler (Mini AMP) will contain a suite of environmental sensors, an integrated data control system, and a telemetry unit as a part of a modular, winch-driven profiling platform. The compact, hydrodynamic, low power design of the Mini AMP system will support a variety of long-term applications, where real-time, high vertical resolution physical and bio-optical data are required. The overall goal of this research will be to design a MINI AMP system that offers the consumer a high level of flexibility in sensing parameters, data telemetry and data control, while maintaining a high level of performance, reliability, accuracy, and ease of use thereby making the system inherently scalable. The prototype design to be developed in this Phase I research will be based on a multi-parameter sensor suite including an optical scattering detector, chlorophyll and colored DOM fluorometers, a spectral attenuation meter, a spectral irradiance sensor, and a CTD. The telemetry unit, an Iridium-based communication link, will provide bi-directional communications for profile scheduling and data retrieval capabilities from remote locations.