Inventors:
John M. Dahlen - Duxbury MA
Narender K. Chhabra - Bedford MA
Richard K. Araujo - Tewksbury MA
James R. Scholten - Sudbury MA
Robert W. Reid - Acton MA
Matti Soikkeli - Braintree MA
Assignee:
The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory - Cambridge MA
International Classification:
G01W 100
Abstract:
A low-cost floating drifter adapted to accurately follow near-surface ocean currents and transmit periodically to monitoring satellites data and position-determining information. Global tracking of ocean currents is made economically and scientifically feasible by the use of large numbers of such drifters. The drifter includes a floating surface buoy in the approximate shape of an oblate spheroid and containing an electronic system, a slotted plane antenna, transmitter, sunrise and sunset detector, environmental sensors, buoy hull strain sensor and battery power supply. The surface buoy is stabilized and induced to follow ocean currents by a drogue suspended from the bottom center surface. The drogue includes a wire-cored buoyant rope of up to hundreds of meters in length and weighted to a slight negative buoyancy. The drogue may also include an elongated cylindrical sock of substantially greater diameter than the rope.