HYDROFOIL PROFILING INSTRUMENT PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HYDROFOIL PROFILING INSTRUMENT PLATFORM FOR MEASURING PHYSICAL, THERMODYNAMIC, GEOCHEMICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS THROUGHOUT THE WATER COLUMN IS PROPOSED. THE PLATFORM WOULD EMPLOY A LOW-POWER, CONTROLLED HYDRODYNAMIC LIFT DEVICE TO "FLY" THE INSTRUMENT PACKAGE UP AND DOWN THE WATER COLUMN ALONG A TAUT CABLE. BECAUSE LOCAL CURRENTS WILL DRIVE THE PLATFORM, POWER REQUIREMENTS WILL BE LOW AND LONG DEPLOYMENTS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY ARE TO EVALUATE SUCH AN INSTRUMENT PLATFORM FOR OBTAINING LONG-TERM RECORDS OF UPPER OCEAN PARAMETERS AND TO DETERMINE IF THE PLATFORM CAN BE ADAPTED TO RETRIEVE REAL-TIME OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA. DURING PHASE I, THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS PROFILING CONCEPT WILL BE DETERMINED. PHASE I WILL INVOLVE AN ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM: THE DESIGN OF THE HYDROFOIL AND CONTROL SYSTEM, THE EFFECTS OF BIOLOGICAL FOULING AND MARINE CORROSION, AND THE SELECTION OF COMMUNICATION AND DATA HANDLING HARDWARE TO INTERFACE WITH THE ANTICIPATED OCEANOGRAPHIC SENSORS (E.G., SENSORS FOR TEMPERATURE, SALINITY, PRESSURE, TURBIDITY, CURRENT, TURBULENCE, AND SOUND VELOCITY). BASED ON THE RESULTS OF PHASE I, A PHASE II RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WILL BE PURSUED WITH THE GOAL OF DEVELOPING A PROTOTYPE HYDROFOIL PROFILING INSTRUMENT PLATFORM.