Surf Zone Mapping and Sensor System
Abstract
The long-term goals of this ONR Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase II effort are to develop a Surf Zone (SZ) bottom drifter measurement system that is relatively invulnerable to effects of breaking waves and that utilizes near bottom currents to provide drifter locomotion without using its own power as well as to transition the technology to support nearshore research, including model validations, and SZ naval operations. Several drifters deployed in a SZ would form a mobile SZ measurement and mapping system. Developing a riverine drifter variant had been proposed as an option. Near the end of FY06, there appears to be increasing naval interest in the riverine variant and decreasing naval interest in the SZ variant. Objectives are: (1) harnessing SZ currents (e.g., undertow and rip currents) to move drifters throughout and generally offshore of the SZ where they will return to the surface for data relay and optional reuse; (2) measuring key data such as bathymetry, waves, and surf; and (3) tracking drifter locations so that these data can be gridded for research and operational applications. Based on recent naval feedback, a related objective is to develop a riverine variant that would measure currents, bathymetry, and other data as it is transported along a river bed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA522856
Entities
People
- Marshall D. Earle