Liquid Robotics’ Wave Glider USV has been selected as the sensor platform to conduct advanced scientific research in the “most inhospitable and remote regions” of the Arctic and Southern Oceans by top oceanographers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps) and the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington (APL-UW).

The oceanographers leading these missions are Dr. Eric Terrill and Dr. Sophia Merrifield of the Coastal Observing Research and Development Center (CORDC), Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Dr. Ken Melville and his team at the Air-Sea Interaction Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and Dr. Jim Thomson and his team in the Stratified Ocean Dynamics of the Arctic (SODA) program at the Applied Physics Laboratory-University of Washington (APL-UW).

The oceanographers will use the Wave Glider USVs, which are proven in extreme ocean conditions, to collect real time data and rare insights into the “dynamic conditions that drive the world’s weather and climate.”

This data is important to scientists in their quest to understand and improve global ocean weather modeling and climate prediction.

“The reliability of the platform, modular payloads, and proven navigation capabilities led to our decision to select the Wave Glider for our upcoming science program,” says Dr. Terrill.

“Tackling at-sea science questions has plenty of challenges and we needed a platform we could trust and adapt. The modularity allows us to deploy our own sensors and adapt autonomy algorithms so that the vehicle will optimally sample the ocean.”

Each team will equip the Wave Gliders with “sophisticated oceanographic and atmospheric sensors” to measure extreme wave states, winds, temperature, and salinity in the upper layers of the ocean. These regions have historically been undersampled because of the dangers and risks associated with operating in these turbulent oceans.

The USVs will give oceanographers the opportunity to observe the real time weather and climate conditions safely from shore.