EXPENDABLE SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT DEVICE

TODAY'S FIGHTING SHIPS RELY HEAVILY ON RADAR AND SONAR TO KEEP THEM OUT OF TROUBLE. ALTHOUGH SOPHISTICATED, THESE SYSTEMS STILL NEED DATA ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS FOR PROPER OPERATION. FOR THIS REASON, IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SEA SURFACE IN THE VICINITY OF A SHIP THAT COULD BE THE TARGET OF ENEMY FIRE. AT PRESENT, THERE IS NO GOOD WAY TO MAKE THIS MEASUREMENT. THIS PROPOSAL PRESENTS A PLAN TO DEVELOP A SEA-SURFACE TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM RESPONSIVE TO THE NAVY'S NEEDS. THE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF THREE PRINCIPAL SUBSYSTEMS: AN EXPENDABLE BUOY WHICH TRANSMITS SURFACE TEMPERATURE DATA TO THE SHIP; A LAUNCHER WHICH EJECTS BUOYS WELL AWAY FROM THE SIDE OF THE SHIP; AND A SHIPBOARD RECEIVER/DATALOGGER WHICH RECEIVES, STORES AND DISPLAYS THE TEMPERATURE DATA FROM MULTIPLE BUOYS. IN PHASE I, A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM (BUOY AND LAUNCHER) WILL BE DESIGNED AND BUILT. TO MINIMIZE DEVELOPMENT COST AND RISK, THE BUOY DESIGN WILL INCORPORATE KEY ELEMENTS OF TECHNOLOGY AND HARDWARE FROM AN EXISTING EXPENDABLE BATHYTHERMOGRAPH. THE SYSTEM WILL BE EVALUAGED THROUGH A SERIES OF INITIAL TESTS. IN PHASE II, ANY REQUIRED DESIGN REFINEMENT WILL BE UNDERTAKEN AND THE SYSTEM WILL BE TESTED EXTENSIVELY PRIOR TO PRODUCTION-ENGINEERING FOR QUANTITY MANUFACTURE.