Microstructure Sensing from Autonomous Platforms

Abstract

Over the last two decades, autonomous sensing of ocean turbulence has progressed from a niche endeavor to one where commercial off-the-shelf hardware is available broadly to the community. This advancement has opened new sampling possibilities, for example, direct observation of turbulence in tropical cyclones, extended observational records much longer than those afforded by ship-based programs, and co-location of multiple platforms for statistical assessment of the natural variation in mixing. The reality of real-time data delivery of turbulence quantities has also introduced challenges for onboard processing, data compression, and quality control of quantities that naturally vary by many magnitudes within short temporal and spatial scales. Developments within autonomous sensing of ocean turbulence continue through advances in software design for efficient and accurate data delivery and hardware design of multiple form factors and sensor combinations.

In May 2022, a small group of US scientists convened a two-day workshop focused on “Microstructure Sensing from Autonomous Platforms” in Lake Arrowhead, California. Workshop attendees were sponsored by ONR for engineering development in this topic area, and, in the spirit of past ONR workshops, the participants shared results and discussed recent innovations. Conversations ranged from a historical perspective of ocean turbulence measurement, to new hardware integration of turbulence sensors with autonomous platforms, to algorithms for onboard processing and real-time data delivery. Participants were tasked with developing short synopses of their presentations—nominally three pages and a few figures—for wider distribution.