Autonomous Identification and Tracking of Thermoclines with a Vertical Profiler using Extremum Seeking Control

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2019

Authors

Hugo M. Antunes (Author) Other; Nuno Cruz (Author) FEUP

Conference proceedings International

Title: OCEANS 2019 MTS/IEEE Seattle, OCEANS 2019

Pages: 1-6

2019 OCEANS MTS/IEEE Seattle, OCEANS 2019

27 October 2019 through 31 October 2019

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 1 Citation

Scopus - 1 Citation

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00R-PX4

DOI: 10.23919/oceans40490.2019.8962699

Abstract (EN): The thermocline is a relatively narrow vertical region that separates the mixed layer at the surface from the deep-water layer. In this region, the gradient of temperature with respect to depth is higher than in the rest of the water column. The characteristics of the thermocline have strong impact in marine biology, since it may trap high-nutrient organisms, and it also affects sound propagation, with direct impact on underwater acoustic communications and military operations. Under adaptive sampling, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles are practical tools for efficient ocean observation. In this work, we describe an implementation of an Extremum Seeking Controller that performs identification and tracking of thermoclines at its point of highest temperature gradient in a completely autonomous way. The vehicle chosen to perform this tracking was an autonomous vertical profiler, and the algorithms were validated using both real and simulated data.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 6