The influences of ocean conditions and currents on living environments are now more widely appreciated—from the Earth’s climate and severe weather conditions to fisheries and biodiversity. Sustained and wide-spread measurements are needed to provide essential clues for understanding the oceans, for effective monitoring of environmental changes, and for helping to clarify the long-term effects of global warming.
To meet this challenge, ocean re-searchers have invented various types of unmanned observing platforms. Two variants developed and supplied by Teledyne Webb Research are gliders for measuring upper-ocean waters and profiling floats for observing global circulation. These platforms, which support a growing range of applications, have been especially valuable for measuring the challenging waters beneath severe storms.
