GPS-Tracked Buoy for Hydrographic Survey Applications

A long standing problem in oceanography and hydrography is accurate real-time measurement of offshore water levels. The Phase 1 research involved investigating a wide range of recent techniques and technologies, and performing analyses and trade-off studies to evaluate, select, and integrate them into a GPS-tracked buoy system (buoy, shore reference station for differential GPS, and repeater stations to optionally increase radio ranges). A key Phase 1 result is a preliminary prototype system design. The system should provide cm level water level accuracies. The buoy can be deployed and recovered from small vessels. During Phase 2, the system will be designed in detail, built, laboratory and field tested, and evaluated. Research will include developing the system software including GPS analyses, buoy motion corrections, and water level analyses. An operational system will be designed for Phase 3 commercialization.