The Voyage of the

Scarlet Knight

Sage Lichtenwalner

Tuckerton Seaport
September 8, 2010
 Marine Sciences at Rutgers University

Marine Field Station

Tuckerton, NJ

Institute of Marine & Coastal

Sciences
New Brunswick, NJ
How many Oceans are there?

ONE!
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How do we
study the
Ocean?
The Early Years
Alvin
1964-Present
4,585 dives
Depths of 15,000 ft
Ship-based Oceanography

Advantages Disadvantages
• We can see exactly • It’s expensive!
what’s going on at
• During storms, even
that moment.
Oceanographers
• We can make many
measurements at can get seasick.
once. • We only see what’s
• We can obtain “high- going on when we’re
resolution” data. out there.
Cool new tools to
study the
Ocean
 Rutgers University - Coastal Ocean Observation Lab
Operations, Data Fusion & Training Center

CODAR Network L-Band & X-Band Satellite 3-D Nowcasts Glider Fleet
Receivers & Forecasts
Ocean Observatories
Satellites
in
Space

Surface
Current
Radars

A collection of instruments and

Underwater
models that provide long-term
Robotic
continuous data often in real-time Gliders
or near real-time.
Rutgers Satellite Systems

Tracking & Processing

Computers

L-Band X-Band
(installed 1992) (installed 2003)

NOAA-15 Aqua
NOAA-17 Terra
NOAA-18 Oceansat
FY1-D
 Satellite Data
Sea Surface Temperature
 Seeing the Ocean in “Color”
OCM – Chlorophyll
India FY1-D
ch7:ch9
China

AVHRR-SST
MODIS – RGB USA
USA
 The Ocean Today

Temperature Chlorophyll
 The CODAR Surface Current Network
A network of beach antennas along the entire Mid-Atlantic coast is able to
measure ocean surface currents out to a range of 200km.

Transmitter Antenna Receiver Antenna

 Long Range
6 km resolution
radial range 190 km

Standard Range
1.5 km resolution
radial range 50km
Using Currents
for Search & Rescue

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NOAA
CODAR
SLDMB
 A New Way to Explore the Ocean

Underwater Gliders
How does a
Glider
work?
 Anatomy of a Glider
Antenna (Iridium,
Science Freewave, GPS &
Control Argos)
Buoyancy Payload Bay Board
Pump Air Bladder

Fin

Altimeter
CTD

Fore Hull Aft Hull Cowling

 How do Gliders “Fly”?
When surfacing
Buoyancy pump in  to connect
the glider pulls in glider inflates
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Glider
begins to
dive
downward

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one dive and

Push pump out  one climb is
glider inflects and called a ‘yo’
How do Gliders Communicate?

Iridium Antenna

ARGOS and FreeWave Antennas

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 Sustained Observatory Operations from Multiple Locations
McDonald’s WiFi

My Living Room – Glider Recovery in Hawaii

Glider Development: Enabling science over many scales (Beginning 1999)
Inner-Shelf (30 km)
10 day missions

Enabling Technology: Line of sight

communication, CTD, alkaline batteries

Scientific Impact:
• Coastal upwelling

• Inner shelf sediment transport

• Near-shore phytoplankton blooms

Glider Development: Enabling science over many scales (Beginning 2003)
Mid-Atlantic Bight (500 km)
30 day missions

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Enabling Technology: Satellite

communication, CTD, alkaline batteries,
modular science payload
Scientific Impact:
• River Plumes

• Ecological indicators for migratory fish

• Role and response of the ocean to

tropical storms and nor’easters
Glider Development: Enabling science over many scales (Beginning 2008)
Large Marine Ecosystems (2500 km)
60 day missions

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Enabling Technology: Satellite

communication, CTD, lithium batteries,
Digifin, modular science payload

Scientific Impact:
• Flux of heat and freshwater from
the north by the Labrador Current

• ‘Coldpool’ life cycle and impact on

ecosystem dynamics

• Multi-decadal oscillations and impact on climate

Glider Development: Enabling science over many scales (Beginning 2009)
North Atlantic Basin (5000 km)
300 day missions

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Enabling Technology: Satellite

communication, CTD, lithium batteries,
Digifin, stretch science payload
Scientific Impact:
• Feedback loop between climate and
ecosystems
• Impact of rapid climate variability on ocean
circulation
• Tropical storm generation and intensification
(ocean/atmosphere exchange)
Rutgers Slocum Glider Fleet
Over 165 deployments worldwide (2003 – 9/7/10)

83,403 km flown (Earth’s circ. ~ 40,000 km)

1,871 calendar days, 3,860 glider days in water
500,000+ profiles

Liverpool Bay
Coastal Observatory

Mid-Atlantic Shelf West Florida Shelf Mediterranean Sea Perth, Australia

RU15
The first glider to fly from one country to another
The voyages of
RU17
&
RU27
The Adventure Begins…

The Voyages of RU17 and RU27

Crossing the Shelf Break
Navigating the Shelf Break

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Catching a ride on the Gulf Stream
 Satellite Data
Sea Surface Temperature
Flying in Eddies
Flying in Eddies

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On July 19th, 2008 Tropical Storm Bertha passed over RU17
On September 22nd RU17 gets stuck in an eddy
October 28th we lost connection with RU
• RU17 was within
20 km of the
Azores EEZ line

• Leak detect voltage drops to 0.42 volts

• Lost connection with RU17
RU17’s full path
 RU17 Accomplishments
 RU17 flew a record breaking distance of 5,700.59 km
 RU17 spent 160 days at sea (5 months and 1 week)
 Increase in student involvement, partnership, and outreach
 Changes made to RU27

•Reinforced CTD Mount

•CTD mounts to glider on both ends so it
is sturdier
•Pressure Sensors
•Now plastic rather then metal to
prevent corrosion
•200 meter pump
•RU17 had a 100 meter pump
•Biofoul Precautions
•Rubberized hull coating
•Biofoul paint
•Aerodynamic Wingrails
•Coulomb Meter
•Measures the amount of power left in
the batteries
The Track of RU27

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Biofouling
Remoras
Remora are visual predators, and
cannot see well at night. To help move
through the night, they attach
themselves to other fish to get a free
ride.
Mission Complete: Scarlet Knight is the first underwater robot
to cross an ocean basin
221 Days
7,409 km
11,000 Dives
11,000 Climbs

Energy equivalent of 8 minutes of

power for lights on the Rockefeller
Center Tree.

Tuckerton, New Jersey, USA Baiona, Galicia, Spain

Mission Complete: Scarlet Knight is the first underwater robot
to cross an ocean basin
A hero’s Welcome, December 9, 2009
 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Documenting the Story
Dena Seidel, Writers House
Exciting the Next Generation in Science and Engineering
Building an International Community
HMS Challenger Mission – 1872-1876
First Dedicated Global Ocean Science Cruise

Can a globally distributed

network of early career
scientists & students repeat
the Challenger Mission with a
coordinated fleet of
underwater robotic gliders?

2012 - ????
Conclusions
• The ocean is a large, complex and interconnected
ecosystem
• Scientists are able to use new tools like gliders to
observe the ocean in greater detail
• Gliders enable scientists and students to go to sea
anywhere in the world
 Research in
Antarctica
 Temperature trends per year
-0.2 0.2
In 2008 the Wilkes Ice Sheet followed the Larson Ice Shelf
and began to collapse

Day 1 Day 3

Day 10
KRILL

SALP

Juvenile krill in under-ice refuge

Greatest biomass of single animal species on planet
 These ice changes are expected to have large impacts on
the ecosystem. Expectations are specific critters will be
disproportionately impacted.

Adélie
Adélie penguin
penguin
(Pygoscelis
(Pygoscelis adeliae)
adeliae)
Ship Sampling Challenges
in the Southern Ocean
Gliders in Antarctica: 2007-Present

km
0
40
Gliders in Antarctica
Why do we
study the
Ocean?
 Deepwater Horizon
Oil Spill

June 19, 2010

May 19, 2010

Monitoring the Gulf Aug 16, 2010
Ocean Models
Ocean Connections: Gulf of Mexico to New Jersey
Our Global Ocean…
• Covers 71% of the Earth's surface

• Contains 97% of the Earth's water

• Has an average depth of 12,430

feet

• Makes up 99% of the living space

on the planet

• Has had less than 10% explored

by humans
Hurricane Katrina (2005)

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Land & Ocean Primary Production

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The Global Biosphere