Ice Profiling Sonar for an AUV: An approach for obtaining SCICEX quality ice draft data,” [http://www.aslenv.com/reports/OIA%202001%20MBARI%20Tervalon%20Paper.p df

• Main Authors: Nicole Tervalon, William Kirkwood
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Ice cap; SCICEX
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.158.7842; http://www.aslenv.com/reports/OIA%202001%20MBARI%20Tervalon%20Paper.pdf

The United States Navy announced plans to eliminate the Sturgeon class submarine fleet some years ago. Since then a discussion has continued about the availability of other Navy assets to continue the SCICEX cruises used for measuring and monitoring Arctic oceanographic properties including ice draft. This is of particular importance at this time, since recent studies indicate the ice cap may be disappearing at an alarming rate, and its important relationship with global climate is becoming more and more evident. The Navy is expecting to ice harden two submarines of another class, but scientific access is still an unresolved issue. Addressing this problem for science requires a platform with proven capability that can provide comparable data. Ultimately the goal is to provide the services science wants, and to replace the lost usage of the U.S. submarine assets. With the development of proper navigation and attitude reference systems capable of accurate performance in the Arctic, this should be possible using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). This paper will address proposed efforts at MBARI looking to integrate an ice sonar into an AUV and using it to perform SCICEX quality ice draft measurements in the Arctic Ocean. The equipment necessary to integrate an ice profiling sonar into an AUV system is not extensive because one can take advantage of the many sensors already incorporated into a basic AUV that are used primarily for navigation and basic science (such as the CTD). The most important aspects of the integration are first, the physical limitations in size and weight of the system, and second, proper assessment and coalescence of the necessary physical measurements which, unlike in a moored application, are spread throughout the vehicle. The discussion will further outline the expected system requirements and equipment tolerances that will be needed to be successful. It will additionally describe the experiment planned to test the system against its functional requirements in the Arctic.