Robust and adaptive path following for underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles

This paper proposes a nonlinear robust adaptive control strategy to force a six degrees of freedom underactuated underwater vehicle with only four actuators to follow a predefined path at a desired speed despite of the presence of environmental disturbances and vehicle’s unknown physical parameters. The proposed controller is designed using Lyapunov’s direct method, the popular backstepping and parameter projection techniques. The closed loop path following errors can be made arbitrarily small. Interestingly, it is shown that our developed control strategy is easily extendible to situations of practical importance such as parking and point-to-point navigation. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

Seismic evidence for pervasive deformation of oceanic sediments in the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic

Seismic reflection profiles from the equatorial Atlantic off Africa between 12°N and 1°N reveal remarkably widespread deformation of oceanic sediments in an area lacking teleseismic activity. Uplift of abyssal plain sequences has occurred along the eastern extensions of large-offset fracture zones on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Between the major transforms pervasive deformation is imaged in the sedimentary column. Diapirism and faulting may have been associated with extensive fluid migration and sediment mobilization. The deformation occurred during the late Cenozoic and was probably related to reactivation of Cretaceous transforms.     

Application of a two-dimensional depth-averaged hydrodynamic tidal model

A two-dimensional hydrodynamic model application to the San Francisco Bay was performed using the Boundary-Fitted HYDROdynamic model (BFHYDRO). The model forcing functions consist of tidal elevations along the open boundary and fresh water flows from the Delta Outflow. The model-predicted surface elevations compare well with the observed surface elevations at five stations in San Francisco Bay. Mean error in the model predicted surface elevations and currents are less than 7 and 9%, respectively. Correlation coefficients for surface elevations and currents are higher than 0.94 and 0.95, respectively. The amplitudes and phases of the principal tidal constituents at 24 tidal stations in San Francisco Bay, obtained from a harmonic analysis of a 90-day simulation compare well with the observed data. The predicted amplitude and phase of the M₂ tidal constituent at these stations are respectively within 8 cm and 8° of the observed data. Maximum errors in the K₁ harmonic amplitudes and phases are less than 3 cm and 7° respectively. The asymmetric diurnal and semi-diurnal tidal ranges and spring and neap tidal cycles of the surface elevations and currents are well reproduced in the model at all stations.     

Effects of water-borne copper on metallothionein and lipid peroxidation in the marine amphipod Gammarus locusta

The aim of the current work was to determine over 10 days the effects of water-borne exposure of the marine amphipod Gammarus locusta to 4 microgCu l(-1) on the metallothionein (MT; measured by differential pulse polarography) protection system and lipid peroxidation (LP: thiobarbituric acid-reactive malondialdehyde equivalents) as a measure of oxidative damage. MT levels in exposed animals increased significantly at day 2 (36% > control; P < 0.001) and remained high at days 6 and 10 (55 and 38%, respectively, P < 0.001). The maximum level of MT at day 6 coincided with the highest Cu body-burden. LP increased within I day of exposure, indicative of Cu as an oxidative stressor. However, in contrast to MT, the highest LP level was seen at day 4 (68% > control, P < 0.001) before returning to control values by day 6, indicating a protective role of MT against the pro-oxidant effects of Cu.     

Filters for linear sea-wave prediction

Deterministic sea-wave prediction (DSWP) models are appearing in the literature designed for quiescent interval prediction in marine applications dominated by large swell seas. The approach has focused upon spectral methods which are straightforward and intuitively attractive. However, such methods have the disadvantage that while the sea is aperiodic in nature, the standard discrete spectral processing techniques force an absolutely periodic structure onto the resulting sea surface prediction models. As it is the shape of the sea surface that is important in such applications, particularly near the end of the domain which is important, the standard windowing techniques used in signal processing work to reduce leakage artifacts cannot be employed. This has necessitated the use of end matching methods that can be both inconvenient and may reduce the fraction of the time for which legitimate predictions are available. As a result, an investigation has been undertaken of the use of finite impulse response prediction filters to provide the necessary dispersive phase shifting required in DSWP systems. The present work examines the theoretical basis for such filters and explores their properties together with their application to both long and short crested swell seas. It is shown that wide band forms of such filters are only convergent in the sense of distributions having both infinite duration impulse responses and asymptotically divergent first derivatives. However, appropriate band limitation can produce useful finite impulse responses allowing implementation via standard discrete convolution methods. It is demonstrated that despite the prediction filters having a non-causal impulse response such filters can be used in practice due to a combination of the asymmetric nature of the impulse response and the fundamental nature of the prediction process. The findings are confirmed against actual sea-wave data.     

Abundance of the introduced seastar, Asterias amurensis, and spatial variability in soft sediment assemblages in SE Tasmania: Clear correlations but complex interpretation

The northern Pacific seastar, Asterias amurensis, was first collected in southeast Tasmania in 1986. Mistaken for the endemic asteroid Uniophora granifera, its true identity was not realised until 1992. It is now a conspicuous predator in soft sediment habitats in this region, and is considered a major threat to native assemblages and commercial species. We examined the structure of soft sediment assemblages at different spatial scales in southeast Tasmania, and correlated spatial variation in community composition with seastar abundances. We found that the structure of soft sediment assemblages is highly variable at a range of spatial scales from metres to tens of kilometres. Clear differences in the composition of assemblages and abundances of major taxa were detected between areas with and without seastars and between areas with low and high seastar densities. However, the nature of these patterns suggests that they are more likely due to differences in sediment characteristics than due to impacts of the seastar. Thus, spatial differences in soft sediment assemblages might have been erroneously attributed to seastars without detailed information on important physical factors such as sediment characteristics. A second survey, using larger sampling units (1 m²) but across a more limited spatial extent, targeted bivalves and heart urchins that were identified as important prey of the seastar in observations of feeding and in experimental studies. Large-scale patterns of abundance and size structure were consistent with seastar effects anticipated from small-scale experimental and feeding studies for some, but not all, species. While the field survey ultimately provided evidence about the presence or absence of seastar impacts at large-scales, the identification of key ecological variables in experimental and feeding studies proved crucial to both the design and interpretation of patterns observed in the large-scale surveys. Overall, this work highlighted the necessity to consider multiple lines of evidence rather than relying on a single ‘inferential’ test, in the absence of pre-impact data.     

Geoacoustic Characterisation of Fine-grained Sediments using Single and Multiple Reflection Data

Fine-grained sediments commonly occur in areas of the continental shelf where wave and current energy are weak. Bulk density, compressional wave speed and attenuation are fundamental physical properties of these sediments required for predicting the response of the seabed for diverse branches of marine science. The traditional coring approach is time and labor-intensive, with large uncertainties associated with sediment disturbance in the sampling phase. Acoustic methods offer the advantages of remote sensing, i.e., sampling the sediment structure without mechanical disturbance and a significantly larger seabed coverage rate per unit time. Two different acoustic methods are described: one using short-range single-bounce interactions with the seabed, and the second using long-range modal propagation to infer the sediment properties. The relative strengths and sensitivities of each approach are explored through simulations guided by experience with measured data.     

Cross-Calibration and Long-Term Monitoring of the Microwave Radiometers of ERS, TOPEX, GFO, Jason, and Envisat

The radiometers on board the satellites ERS-1, TOPEX/Poseidon, ERS-2, GFO, Jason-1, and Envisat measure brightness temperatures at two or three different frequencies to determine the total columnal water vapor content and wet tropospheric path delay, a major correction to the altimeter range measurements. In order to asses the long-term stability of the path delay, the radiometers are calibrated against vicarious cold and hot references, against each other, and against several atmospheric models. Four of these radiometers exhibit significant drifts in at least one of the channels, resulting in yet unmodeled errors in path delay of up to 1 mm/year, thus limiting the accuracy at which global sea level rise can be inferred from the altimeter range measurements.