TWR Delivers 6 Slocum Turbulence Gliders

Teledyne Webb Research (TWR) delivered six Slocum Turbulence Measurement Gliders to NOC Liverpool, U.K.; Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Germany; and New York University, U.S.A.

New York University will be using the Slocum turbulence glider in a project aimed at projecting global sea-level change. The gliders will be used to study the interaction of warm, salty North Atlantic waters with cold, fresh polar waters coming from the melt of outlet glaciers along the coast of Greenland. Where these waters meet there appears to be layering and interleaving of the two water masses, explains Professor David Holland. “A glider, equipped with a turbulence measuring device, should allow us to explore the mixing that occurs between these waters in areas difficult to access by ship because of the presence of sea ice and icebergs. Observations of the amount of mixing are important as it will allow us to validate numerical models of these largely unsampled areas of the world ocean, critical to projecting future global sea-level change.”

In February NOC Liverpool added two turbulence gliders to its existing Slocum glider fleet as part of the Liverpool Coastal Observatory. The new turbulence gliders will be used in the NERC and DEFRA-funded Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry (SSB) program. This intensive campaign will consist of six cruises in the Celtic Sea during 2014 using the newly commissioned £75M Royal Research Ship Discovery with the aim of better understanding of nutrient and carbon cycling within the shelf seas, and of their overall role in global biogeochemical cycles.

The Helmholtz team led by Dr. Jeff Carpenter will use the turbulence gliders primarily in the relatively shallow coastal waters of the North and Baltic Seas to study turbulent transport of important quantities such as heat, momentum, suspended sediments, and nutrients. The program will shed new light on the crucial role of turbulent processes in coastal oceans.

TWR (U.S.A.) entered into an agreement with Rockland Scientific (Canada) to integrate the MicroRider modular turbulence measurement package with the Slocum Glider in early 2013. To date Teledyne Webb has delivered 16 Slocum Turbulence Measurement Gliders to Germany, Norway, Japan, the U.K. and U.S.A. A demonstration system can be seen at the Teledyne Marine Exhibition Area.

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