Through-ice AUV deployment: Operational and technical experience from two seasons of Arctic fieldwork

• Published in: Cold Regions Science and Technology
• Main Authors: Doble, Martin Jonathan, Forrest, Alexander L., Wadhams, Peter, Laval, Bernard E.
• Other Authors: Department of applied maths and theoretical physics, University of Cambridge UK (CAM), Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche (LOV), Observatoire océanologique de Villefranche-sur-mer (OOVM), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; Arctic; Ellesmere Island; Beaufort Sea; Lincoln Sea; Sea ice; Alaska
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03505021; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2008.11.006

Detailed sea ice draft mapping was recently accomplished in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, in 2007 and in the Lincoln Sea, north of Canada's Ellesmere Island, in 2008 using a small (3 m long, 20 cm diameter), man-handleable Gavia AUV incorporating an inertial navigation system and a 500 kHz phase-measuring swath sonar. The topography of specific ice features was mapped across 80 m-wide swaths by performing repeated runs in the vicinity of access holes drilled in the sea ice. The paper discusses the technical and operational developments undertaken to successfully accomplish the missions, including test deployments in a frozen Canadian lake prior to each Arctic deployment. Example data are shown and accuracy issues discussed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.