面向典型海洋现象观测的水下滑翔机应用综述

水下滑翔机是一种浮力驱动的无人水下自治观探测平台, 具有持续性、鲁棒性、自主性等特点, 是构建海洋观测技术体系重要的水下航行器之一。文章从水下滑翔机发展历程、运行方式和专用传感器展开, 基于国内外海洋学文献综述研究, 重点对水下滑翔机在典型海洋现象观测应用方面进行总结。水下滑翔机的运行稳定性、长时续, 观测高分辨率、低成本的特点, 满足了对海洋中尺度涡、内波、湍流、环流/边界流和锋面的长时间、精细化立体观测要求; 鲁棒性、自主性的特点使其能够适应台风过境、地震、原油泄漏前后等紧急恶劣海洋状况的监测; 运行平稳、低噪声的特点使其成为声学监测与探测的良好平台。对比分析国内外的水下滑翔机(组网)应用状况可以发现, 国内水下滑翔机在传感器、数据处理和组网技术方面都需要进一步完善。最后总结并展望了国内外水下滑翔机面向海洋现象观测的应用。

Review on the application of underwater gliders for observing typical ocean phenomena

As a buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater observation platform, the underwater glider has characteristics of sustainability, robustness and autonomy. It is one of the important underwater vehicles to construct an ocean observation technology system. In this paper, the underwater glider's development history, operation mode and special sensors are introduced in detail. Based on the oceanographic literature at home and abroad, the application of underwater gliders for observing typical marine phenomena is summarized. The characteristics of the underwater glider, such as stability, long duration, high resolution, and low cost, meet the needs of long-time and carefully stereoscopic observations of mesoscale eddies, internal waves, turbulence, boundary flows, and fronts. The robustness and autonomy make it adapt to severe ocean conditions, such as typhoons, earthquakes and crude oil leakage before and after. The characteristics of stable operation and low noise also make it a good platform for acoustic monitoring and detection. Through comparative analysis and research on the application status of the underwater glider (networking) at home and abroad, we conclude that the sensor, data processing system and networking of the domestic underwater glider need to be further improved. Finally, we summarize and look forward to the application of underwater gliders for observing ocean phenomena at home and abroad.