NOC Moves Forward with Funding for Subsea Sensor Tech

A project to create a multi-parameter miniature sensor to help boost the range of measurements single underwater robotic platforms can take has won UK funding.

A team in the National Oceanography Centre’s (NOC) Ocean Technology and Engineering group will develop and then test the new SixSense package on autonomous underwater vehicles, including Autosub Long Range (ALR) and Slocum Glider platforms. The new miniature sensor will be capable of measuring six key parameters covering biogeochemical, physical and environmental measurements.

“Sampling our world’s ocean is a formidable challenge, yet understanding more about the marine environment is critical for understanding a wide range of issues that can have local but also global impacts," said Dr Andrew Morris, project lead. “Marine autonomy is a way to monitor more locations for longer than has previously been possible. As the platform technology advances so must the sensors available to them to make best use of new capabilities to deliver more data.”

The funding, totalling £390,000, from the Natural Environment Research Council’s Future Marine Research Infrastructure (FMRI) programme, will cover sensor development, platform integration and testing.

The sensors – conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pressure, pH and Eh – will all be solid-state, low-power and not require reagents, making them simple to deploy and with no moving parts to maintain.

During testing, three sensors will be deployed on a single ALR, all mounted in different locations – inside, on the outside and in-line with pumped sample lines – alongside traditional instruments, for verification. Others will be deployed in the science bays of gliders.