AIR-DEPLOYABLE SELF-LOCATING SURFACE DRIFTING BOUY

THE PRESENT DATUM MARKER BUOY REQUIRES EXCESS VALUABLE AIRCRAFT TIME DURING A SEARCH AND RESCUE. FINDING AND HOMING IN ON THE VHF MARKER WASTES TIME. THE OPPORTUNITY ISTO DEVELOP A GPS-BASED, SELF-LOCATING BUOY WHICH TRANSMITS ITS ACCURATE POSITION VIA SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS IN REAL TIME. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROGRAM ARE TO: (1) PRODUCE A WORKING PROTOTYPE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE GPS NAVIGATION COMPONENT CAN BE MADE TO WORK IN A SONOBUOY-SIZE DEVICE, I.E. TO DETERMINE THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE OF RECEPTION AT VERYLOW FREEBOARD, WAVE WASH OVER, AND BLANKING; (2) PERFORM A STUDY OF PRESENT AND NEAR-FUTURE SOURCES OF COMMERCIALLY-AVAILABLE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS; AND(3) PERFORM A COST STUDY OF THE BUOY SYSTEM. THE WORK SCOPEINCLUDES LABORATORY BENCH TESTING (SIMULATIONS), ANTENNA PERFORMANCE AND INTERFERENCE STUDIES, AND PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT. A SERIES OF TESTS WILL BE RUN AT SEA WITH PROTOTYPE MODELS, THE FINAL TEST BEING A PROTOTYPE ALLOWED TO DRIFT FOR TWO WEEKS COMPLETE WITH GPS RECEIVER AND AN INTERIM SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM. THE STUDY OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS WILL FOCUS ON COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS TOBE IN PLACE IN THE NEAR FUTURE, THEIR PROJECTED COSTS, AND COMPATIBILITY. A FINAL REPORT WILL DETAIL ALL ENGINEERING TESTS AND STUDY SUMMARIES.