Deployment of the Newcastle Wave Glider in Drake Passage 30-11-2017/03-02-2018

Miguel Ángel Morales Maqueda (NU), Nigel Penna (NU),  Peter Foden (NOC)

After a successful mission to the North Sea that proved that it is possible to measure sea surface heights relative to the reference ellipsoid with cm-accuracy and at high frequency (1-5 Hz) using a GNSS antenna-receiver system mounted on a Wave Glider, the Newcastle Wave Glider team was invited to contribute to the measurement of air-sea fluxes and upper ocean properties in the Southern Ocean in a Wave Glider deployment partly supported by the Natural Environment Research Council National Capability project ORCHESTRA and the British Antarctic Survey through a Collaborative Antarctic Science Scheme (CASS) award.

The autonomous vehicle team during the ORCHESTRA cruise. Left to right: Louise Biddle (U. of Gothenbrug), Miguel Angel Morales Maqueda and Liam Rogerson (Newcastle University), Alex Brearley and Ryan Scott (British Antarctic Survey). The vehicles in the photo are, from left to right, a SeaGlider, a Wave Glider and a Slocum glider.