Configurable, Autonomous Surface

Vehicle for Continuous, Long Term

Monitoring of Nearshore Coastal Waters

Mark Jones and Jennifer Elster

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Marine Research Operations 1529 W. Sequim Bay Road

Sequim, WA 98382 USA

Proudly operated by Battelle since 1965

More than 4,000 staff

Unique capabilities

Mission-driven collaborations with

government, industry and universities

PNNL: a DOE Research Institution in the Northwest

We deliver solutions

to America's most

intractable problems in

energy, national security

and the environment.

Through the power of

our interdisciplinary

teams, we advance

science and technology

to make the world a

better place.

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Washington, D.C.

PNNL-SA-67566

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Marine Sciences Laboratory and Coastal Security

Institute

Enable sustainable development

of marine & nearshore energy

Predict and manage impacts of

climate change on coastal systems

• Predict and mitigate impacts of tidal and ocean wave/wind energy systems on coastal ecosystems

• Optimize production of biofuels (hydrogen, biodiesel, jet fuels) by marine algae

• Optimize engineered systems to meet environmental performance needs

• Provide leadership for integrated coastal systems science

• Predict and guide mitigation of climate change impacts on coastal environments

• Protect and restore ecosystem functions in coastal environments

DOE’s unique resource for coastal energy, environmental, and security science

Detect and inform responses to

national security threats

• Provide S&T leadership for maritime threat signatures to the US Government

• Develop & deploy sensor systems in a maritime environment

• Deliver actionable intelligence to national agencies and military operations

Traditional Methods of Survey

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Research Survey Vessels($20-155K per day)

Large coverage area

Non-persistent deployment

Aerial/Satellite Imagery ($7-11B Lifetime)

Large coverage area

Affected by visibility/water quality

Limited time coverage

Divers ($8 - $20K/day)

Non-persistent

Limited spatial coverage

Labor intensive

Fine resolution

Buoys ($0.5 – 3M deployment;$1M/year)

Point sensing/direct measurements

Temporal data

Depth limitation

Infrastructure/data exfiltration costs

Unmanned Methods of Survey

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Propeller Driven

High Energy- limited missions

Enhanced maneuverability

Shallow or deep water

Buoyancy Driven

Deep water

Low energy – extended missions

Limited payload capacity

Wave Driven

Very low energy – extended missions

Shallow or deep water

Continuous surface presence & communications

Large payload capacity

Required wave motion

* All vehicles have limited use around near shore structures

30 lbs payload

<10 lbs payload

70 lbs payload

So….. We are moving to deployed sensors & use of surface vehicles for data collection and exfiltration

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Surface Vehicles (LRI Wave Glider) can be used as a data portal for:

• Deployed Sensors

• Other Surface Vehicles

• Other submersible vehicles

Credit:

http://www.afcea.org/mission/intel/documents/IndustryDay-

Kraft.pdf

Similar to what the Air Force has

achieved with drone technology, the

Navy would like to establish a 24/7

presence in an operational theater and

have assets available in short order –

Paraphrased from Navy Transitional Roadmap (2010-2019)

What are some of the requirements:

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Every platform is a sensor

Every sensor is networked

Transition to remote, automated

systems Provide commonality in

interfaces, data links and

control stations

This strategy applies to air and waterborne assets

Operational Issues Affecting Command and Control

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Communications

Many platforms are underwater so do not have a continuous communications channel

Power

Many platforms have limited deployment cycle for data rich collection

Speed/Coverage

Do not travel comparatively fast to airborne assets therefore need more assets and cooperative behavior

*Surface vehicles resolve some of these issues

PNNL-Research initiatives

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Local mesh networks and cooperative behavior

Power management vs. communication bandwidth

How to optimize performance

Protection of onboard data and storage

Payloads for environmental measurements

From DOE perspective, what are applications

Energy and Environment

Enabling offshore permitting through site characterization and baseline measurements

National Security

Non-proliferation, ISR, and first response

Basic Science

Understanding fate and transport

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Energy / Renewable Energy Monitory Needs

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Tidal Turbine: Mammal Detection/System Control

Continuous monitoring to determine near shore effects of climate change

Habitat & Bathymetry Surveys

Monitoring of marine sanctuaries

Wind Energy: Birds & Bats Wind turbines

Oil spill response (modeling/plume tracking)

Coastal Biological Science and Technology

Unique combination of experimental capability and field research

Marine, estuarine, and freshwater systems

Experimental mesocosms

Marine biotechnology facility

Remote sensing, AUV, GIS

Addressing national challenges

Enabling use of marine algae for fuels

Quantifying and mitigating impacts of waterpower generation on aquatic ecosystems

Restoring and adaptively managing coastal and nearshore habitats

Measuring and modeling contaminant fate and effects in biological systems

Integrated detection and response to harmful algal blooms

Measuring effects of climate change and population growth in biological systems

Developing environmental biomarkers of exposure and effects

Ensuring sustainable ecosystem functions

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Siting, Permitting, & Operational Challenges of Offshore Wind Development

Project Goal: To resolve key environmental issues in order to shorten time to deployment

Program Focus: 3 Step Strategy to resolving environmental effects:

1. Develop “smart” searchable data base to organize information on an international level and make it broadly accessible (knowledge management system-KMS)

2. Use risk assessment tools to identify significant environmental issues facing siting and permitting (environmental risk evaluation system-ERES)

3. Resolve significant issues through R&D directed at critical issues and information gaps

Industry Impact: Accelerate design & permitting of offshore wind farms by:

Identifying important environmental issues, including regulatory & stakeholder concerns

Producing the science and engineered systems to address and resolve key issues

Provide the basis for evaluating mitigation options where impacts are likely

Principle Power’s floating offshore wind platform design

Fundamental Science Questions

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Long-term monitoring of water quality is important for assessing health of coastal ecosystems

Coastal ecosystems are a significant component of carbon cycling.

Deep ocean waters with lowered pH, delivered to coastal oceans through upwelling, could significantly affect these ecosystems.

Increase in sea levels will affect military operations

CLIMATE CHANGE

http://www.piscoweb.org

-pH,

-Nitrates,

-Ammonia

-Dissolved,

-CO2

-Dissolved O2

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Water Column Measurements

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Chlorophyll & dissolved organic material (DOM), particles/turbidity, salinity, temperature are key measurements for:

- Inputs into “Hydrolight” and other propagation models for overhead imagery,

- Look at effects of near shore structures and activities including: energy harvesting, levees & dams,

- Circulation & current profiling and plume monitoring

Environmental Effects of Ocean Energy Development…so what?

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Rudics- encrypted irridium

RF- local data exfiltration

Weather Station payload

AIS

Irridium (WGMS) – C&C

Irridium (WGMS) – C&C

AIS

LRI-Wave Glider modularity enables a variety of Navigation/Data exfiltration Options

METOC-CTD SHARC Comms

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Liquid

Robotics, Inc

Server

Dissolved

Oxygen

Eco Puck –

Optical Sensor

pH Sensor

WGMS

Linux Single Board Computer

Local RF Data

Exfiltration

RF Antenna

Irridium Dome

AIS Antenna

Environmental Effects of Ocean Energy Development…so what?

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Example: Water column parameters

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Chlorophyll Concentration DOM Absorption

Traditinal methods

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Total suspended solids

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1

2

3

4

5

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Sequim Bay Station Number

(mg

/L)

OSS

ISS

Organic and Inorganic fraction

COST = $10K/day – No fine spatial data

UUV use in water quality measurements

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COST = $2K (1/2 day) –temporal/spatial data

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Hydrology Data input for 3-D Modeling

Boundary conditions for 3-D modeling of rivers, estuaries, and near shore environments

Addressing water resource issues for energy

Measuring and predicting water quality and quantity

Measuring and predicting flow

Quantifying tidal energy resources

Accurately predicting spill trajectories

Guiding aquatic ecosystem restoration

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Improved and Effects on Water Quality

Habitat & Bathymetry Studies

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Use of UUV to map changes in habitat boundaries as a result of seasonal and man-made effects,

Identification of potential restoration sites based upon correlated environmental and imagery data,

Mission planning & : Detection and differentiation of water column properties and bottom types,

Monitoring, surveying, or characterizing an area for pre-,during, or post-mission support

Bathymetry of Survey Location

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Survey performed at high tide

Water depth varied from 1 m to 20 m

Eelgrass boundary delineated by ledge

Mapping of Undersea Vegetation

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Diver transects, video, and sonar images were compared

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Cost Comparison

AUV has large initial investment $10’s k to $100’s k depending upon platform

Larger coverage with reduced staffing

Examples: REMUS AUV (Hydroid Inc.)

Area: 500 m transect Eight hours

Five in-water divers

$10k cost

Liquid Robotics Platform – Hydrophone Integration

Integration of hydrophone to sub enables continuous acoustic collection

Station keeping and way point navigation system enables mission adaptation

Environmental Applications:

Monitoring of marine sanctuaries,

Measuring mammal migratory patterns,

Monitoring of marine mammals in close proximity to coastal structures and naval exercises.

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Liquid Robotics Platform – Hydrophone Integration

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4 meters

PNNL: Custom Payload Development - in-situ Water Sampler

Projects for multiple clients to develop a sampling system that will address Trace detection in the marine environment

Designed to integrate with COTS wave glider platform

Wave Glider platform enables larger, heavier payloads,

Uses wave motion to move vehicle based on two-part tethered system

Current payload contains:

multiple chemisorbant concentrating cartridges Fluidic System

Health sensors

Low powered, autonomous systems that exfiltrate data to a secure land-based servers

www.liquidrobotics.com Liquid Robotics Wave Glider

Questions?

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