Assessment of Atmospheric and Oceanographic Measurements from an Autonomous Surface Vehicle

Abstract

Abstract The present work details the measurement capabilities of Wave Glider autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) for research-grade meteorology, wave, and current data. Methodologies for motion compensation are described and tested, including a correction technique to account for Doppler shifting of the wave signal. Wave Glider measurements are evaluated against observations obtained from World Meteorological Organization (WMO)-compliant moored buoy assets located off the coast of Southern California. The validation spans a range of field conditions and includes multiple deployments to assess the quality of vehicle-based observations. Results indicate that Wave Gliders can accurately measure wave spectral information, bulk wave parameters, water velocities, bulk winds, and other atmospheric variables with the application of appropriate motion compensation techniques. Measurement errors were found to be comparable to those from reference moored buoys and within WMO operational requirements. The findings of this study represent a step toward enabling the use of ASV-based data for the calibration and validation of remote observations and assimilation into forecast models.