Steps towards autonomy: From current measurements to underwater vehicles

Abstract

This paper is a chronicle of three decades of my career in developing instrumentation for ocean observations. It opens with challenges of making current measurements in the upper ocean, where off-axis flow is important, using electromagnetic and acoustic Doppler instruments. A by-product of acoustic Doppler instruments, quantitative backscatter measurements, led to my contributions on the behaviour and abundance of zooplankton, especially in relation to ocean physics. What worked, and what did not, are discussed, and lessons on project initiation are set out. The Autosub autonomous underwater vehicle programmes have been a major part of my career since 1993, and the initiation and motivation for the programmes are described, together with the challenges in management and technology. Summaries of the outcomes of the Autosub Science Missions programme of 1999–2001 demonstrate the effectiveness of a focused approach to the early adoption of new technology for ocean measurements.