CRECHE Seminar: An EM flow sensor for measuring the axial speed of gliders

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An underwater glider deployed by CRECHE doing fine scale measurements near Sodwana Bay [Photo: Sean Whelan – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute]

Many thanks to the Centre for Research on Environmental, Coastal and Hydrological Engineering (CRECHE) for hosting Dr. Fabian Wolk, the President and co-founder of Rockland Scientific Inc. (Victoria, BC, Canada), a leading developer of scientific instrumentation for ocean microstructure and turbulence measurements. Fabian presented a seminar regarding instrumentation used on robotic autonomous underwater gliders that can be used for long-term ocean deployments that measure mixing and other features of our oceans. CRECHE currently has a project doing such measurements in the Agulhas current off the east coast of KZN – the first such measurements made in this region.
 
TOPIC: An electro-magnetic flow sensor for measuring the axial speed of gliders
ABSTRACT: The axial speed of the glider, U, is an important quantity that affects the flight dynamics of the glider as well as the accuracy of certain oceanographic observations. For example, accurate knowledge of U is required when converting measurement points from time-domain spacing to spatial-domain spacing. Some sensors, e.g. turbulence shear probes, require U for proper scaling of the measured signal. While U can be estimated from hydrodynamic models, a direct measurement of the axial speed is preferred in many applications.  This presentation introduces a small current speed sensor that can be added to gliders to directly measure U to improve glider-borne measurements with shear probes.

Rockland Scientific Hires Staff Scientist

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VICTORIA, BC, CANADA, July 24, 2017 — Rockland Scientific Inc. announced the appointment of Dr. Justine McMillan as Staff Scientist. Dr. McMillan will act as scientific and technical liaison between Rockland’s customer base and the company’s R&D and customer service teams.  
Dr. McMillan recently completed her doctoral degree at Dalhousie University, focussing on the measurement of turbulent flows in energetic tidal channels. Her work has been instrumental in the ongoing tidal energy resource assessments. She has also become an advocate for ocean literacy and scientific communication, and is “excited to join the Rockland team.”
“I’ve used Rockland’s instrumentation in several sea-going campaigns for my research work at Dalhousie, which allowed me to develop extensive experience in the processing, analysis and interpretation of turbulence data sets. My experience enables me to support Rockland’s customers, not only helping them get their data, but also assisting them in turning the data into research-paper-ready information”, says McMillan.
About Rockland Scientific: Rockland Scientific Inc., located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, provides sensors and instrument systems for ocean turbulence measurements. The instruments are either ship-deployed profilers, moored systems, or deployed from autonomous gliders, floats, or AUVs. RSI measurement systems are used worldwide in a multitude of disciplines, such as Climate Research, Renewable Ocean Energy, Coastal Management and Erosion Studies, and Fisheries Research. 

Rockland Scientific Awarded Camosun College Co-op Employer of the Year

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Rockland Scientific has been awarded the Camosun College Co-op Technology Employer of the Year Award for 2016, as well as the overall Co-op Employer of the Year Award for 2016.

The Co-operative Education and Career Services department at Camosun College annually recognizes an outstanding employer in each of the program areas, and one employer across all program areas. The award is given based on the employer’s involvement with co-operative education ranging from assisting in workplace education preparation seminars to providing a co-op student with an enriching work experience. John Wells writes, when nominating Rockland Scientific:

“My time at RSI has been extremely positive and given me highly relevant experience that will be invaluable when seeking full time employment. This co-op has further validated my choice to pursue a career in Mechanical Engineering Technology by demonstrating that I have an aptitude for the work and that this type of work is in fact enjoyable and rewarding for me. Most importantly, I am confident that this co-op has truly initiated my transition from student to practicing technologist.”

Employer partners provide valuable and relevant learning that enhance the students’ success and that of the co-operative education program at Camosun. In particular, their strong mentorship of the students, building upon their strengths and encouraging their career growth throughout the technology world has proved invaluable. The award was presented by Nancy Sly, Director of Applied Learning, Co-operative Education and Career Services at Camosun College.

Rockland Scientific to present at the University of Porto Seminar on Ocean Turbulence

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Rockland’s Dr. Rolf Lueck will be delivering the seminar Ocean Turbulence: Synergy between scientific advancement and technological innovation alongside Dr. Jorge M. Magalhães from FCUP (University of Porto). The seminar, organized by the Underwater Systems and Technology Laboratory (LSTS-FEUP), will take place on June 2nd, 2017, at the University of Porto (FEUP).

Robotic Ocean Turbulence Measurements at the Observatório Oceânico da Madeira

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When scientists go on holiday: Rockland’s Dr. Rolf Lueck recently presented “Robotic Ocean Turbulence Measurements” as the guest speaker at the Observatório Oceânico da Madeira. The presentation focused on the measurement of micro-turbulence, the autonomous vehicles used with the instruments and their respective technological advances.

Boaty McBoatface’s Rockland MicroRider

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“Boaty’s second big adventure in the Orkney Passage (from Eleanor Frajka-Williams)

Here is the promised post about Boaty’s second mission in the Orkney Passage, which took place during 12-14 April. This post was written by Eleanor Frajka-Williams of Southampton University, with some editing by Stephen Griffies of NOAA/GFDL and Princeton University. It should appeal especially to those interested in details of Boaty’s engineering feats and some of what it does while beneath the ocean surface.”

Read the full article here.

Boaty’s Rockland Scientific MicroRider is also nicely visible in this video from the British Antarctic Survey:

Canada’s first three-glider mission maps whale habitat

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Ocean Tracking Network:

For the first time in Canada, a triple glider project has successfully mapped out critical gray whale habitat off the west coast of Vancouver Island. While previous missions have deployed one or two gliders, this Whales, Habitat, and Listening (WHaLe) project—funded by the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction, and Response (MEOPAR)—is the first to fly three coordinated gliders.

In addition to the common suite of water property sensors—temperature, salinity and oxygen—the gliders on this mission carried a broadband hydrophone to identify and count whale vocalizations, an echo sounder to remotely quantify zooplankton biomass variability, and optical instrumentation identifying phytoplankton to elucidate the major components of the whale food chain. The University of British Columbia glider also carried a specialized Rockland Scientific sensor suite for measuring ocean turbulence, to better understand why submarine canyons create such favourable habitat for the whales.

Continue Reading…

The 1st Summer School of Upper Ocean Turbulence, Gdańsk 2016

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The purpose of the ‘Summer School of Upper Ocean Turbulence’ was to teach students (graduate students and scientists) in the art of turbulence theory, processes and measurements with the focus on the upper ocean.

The 2 week course included a 2 week intensive training period (25 July – 5 August) with lectures by a diverse set of international experts that intend to cover a broad spectrum of problems ranging from application of spectral methods in turbulence data analysis to numerical methods in turbulence research. The last week of the program (8-12 August) included at sea data collection and hands-on experience in data analysis with VMP250 turbulence microstructure profiler. Read More>>

OMG 2017: Ocean Microstructure Glider Training

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Ocean Microstructure Glider training, “OMG 2017”, is a 4-day training workshop that covers all aspects of turbulence measurements using MicroRider integration with ocean glider platforms. The training workshop will cover setup, operation, maintenance, deployment and processing of turbulence data. The workshop is scheduled for April 24-27, 2017 in Victoria, B.C. Canada. Please see the OMG 2017 Preliminary Schedule for details. The event promises to bring together a diverse group of scientists from around the world. Seats are limited, to register please fill out the OMG 2017 Registration Form.

 

Scientists Explain How Meltwater Reaches Ocean Depths

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January 30th, 2017 Press Release 
An international team of researchers has discovered why fresh water, melted from Antarctic ice sheets, is often detected below the surface of the ocean, rather than rising to the top above denser seawater. The team found that the Earth’s rotation influences the way meltwater behaves – keeping it at depths of several hundred metres.

The research is published this week in the journal Nature in association with colleagues at University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of East Anglia (UEA), British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Stockholm University. Read the Full Article