Blog and News

Scientists from NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center have begun a second year of data collection for the Integrated Ecosystem Assessment in Hawai‘i with support of Wave Glider Uncrewed Surface Vehicles. Three Wave Gliders are circumnavigating the main Hawaiian Islands between one to four miles from shore while measuring surface …Read more

Scientists from U.S. and international institutions are collaborating to collect high precision data of tectonic plate movements in the Pacific. With a combination of bottom-mounted Sonardyne Fetch arrays and Wave Gliders at the surface, movements can be measured with 1 cm precision using GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System). The University …Read more

NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center is assessing the marine ecosystem health around the main Hawaiian Islands with the support of three Wave Gliders equipped with winches. While circumnavigating the islands in close proximity to the shoreline, chlorophyll-a data is being collected through automated, location-based winch casts multiple times per …Read more

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology have successfully conducted the world’s first simultaneous marine and atmospheric measurements directly beneath a Category 5 typhoon in the Western North Pacific—the strongest class of typhoons.

Next Stop Hawai‘i in 8,000 km: Researchers from the Korea Polar Research Institute and Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology had to get creative when Typhoon Merbok prevented them from recovering their Wave Glider in the Bering Sea. The Wave Glider was detoured to Hawai‘i and showcased its exceptional …Read more

Orion Space Solutions developed a novel camera system that collects images of the upper atmosphere ionosphere from the ocean surface. The Ocean Stabilized Ionospheric Remote Imaging Sensor (OSIRIS) was integrated onto the Wave Glider and recently launched for the first time. The system will help assess space weather dynamics, which …Read more

To better understand the likelihood and risks of earthquakes and tsunamis in New Zealand, a team of researchers is keeping a close eye on the tectonic plate boundary where the Pacific plate ‘dives’ beneath the Australian plate. Through a combination of instruments moored to the seafloor and high precision antennas …Read more

Researchers gained important new insights into the humpback whale population(s) migrating to the Hawaiian archipelago. Equipped with acoustic sensors, Wave Glider Europa traveled over 2,600 nautical miles on a 67-day mission to record the presence of humpback whales in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

For the past 10 years, the Ocean Tracking Network has used Wave Gliders to support its global aquatic animal tracking efforts. Snow crabs and more than 300 other commercially important and endangered species are being tagged with acoustic sensors to inform resource conservation and management. Wave Gliders are used to …Read more

As part of the new Blue Economy Tech Center, Project ABLE promotes public-private partnerships for marine robotics helping to address questions relating to environmental and ecosystem monitoring, offshore wind energy, and climate change. Liquid Robotics participates in the cohort to accelerate the knowledge and use of autonomous systems along the …Read more

A multi-disciplinary team of researchers is capturing the transition from summer sea ice retreat to autumn sea ice advance in the Arctic Ocean to help predict future sea ice formation. A fleet of four Wave Gliders is part of this 3-month mission to collect ocean surface measurements, as well as …Read more

The Japan Coast Guard deployed fleets of Wave Gliders to create an unmanned ocean observation network to gather real-time ocean data to help them more effectively monitor Japan’s ocean environment and ensure the safety of those in and around the sea.

Today, most commercial fish stocks assessments are expensive and infrequent. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) worked with South Africa’s Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) to demonstrate a different approach—at a fraction of the cost of ships.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) had a massive challenge: How to protect 840,000 square kilometers of remote marine habitat without incurring the expense and risk of manned missions. To help close the gap in maritime surveillance, the FCO enlisted the help of Liquid Robotics.

When it comes to a tsunami, minutes matter. But historically, deep ocean seismic observations have been sparse due to the high cost, risk, and difficulty in collecting data. Scripps Institution of Oceanography had an ambitious goal to change that—so they created an innovative, unmanned observatory for real-time seismic detection.

As 13 trillion gallons of floodwater flowed into the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Harvey, researchers from Texas A&M’s Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (GERG) needed an efficient way to monitor water quality and understand the impacts to the ecosystem. And they needed to move quickly.

The Southern Ocean accounts for 50% of all carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean, 80% of the heat uptake, and supplies nutrients that support 75% of ocean productivity outside polar regions, yet researchers know little about its sensitivity to climate change. Researchers at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research …Read more

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is a leader in applying technology to longstanding problems in ocean science. As their collection of ocean vehicles and robots grew, they faced a new challenge: how to improve coordination and communication between surface and subsea vehicles and access to data from these …Read more

Cefas needed a way to track and sample algal blooms in the right place at the right time. If they could confirm the presence of the Karenia sp. dinoflagellate within an algal bloom, then they could help improve the satellite algorithms used in the production of satellite products. Together we …Read more

Snow crabs play an important role in Nova Scotia’s ecosystems. But traditional tagging methods for these mobile undersea animals relied on static receivers on the ocean floor, and weren’t always effective. The Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) needed a better way to track individually tagged crabs and understand their movements and …Read more

Over the course of two missions, Liquid Robotics worked with AIMS to demonstrate how a long-duration autonomous ocean vehicle can improve monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef and support monitoring operations such as in the waters of northwest Australia.

Scientists from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have installed a network of seafloor sensors off the coast of northern Chile, where some of the most powerful earthquakes on the planet originate. Their goal? Measure seafloor motion with millimeter accuracy in order to better understand earthquake and tsunami risk.

Off the coast of Western Africa, you’ll find scientists from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel researching the impact of global climate change on marine ecosystems. One challenge they face? Finding a cost-effective, reliable way to collect data in remote, infrastructure-poor and under-sampled regions of the Atlantic.