Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
?Gliding? robots patrol Gulf oil spill
Robots may improve predictions of where oil will go next
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0 itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 25px" itxtvisited="1">
Alex Kahl and Oscar Schofield
Gliders move by sucking in seawater, which causes them to tip forward and sink. When the glider reaches the desired depth, it expels the water.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
By Stephanie Pappas
updated 30 minutes ago<SCRIPT language=javascript> function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('634124706194470000');</SCRIPT>
As the Gulf oil spill approaches its third month, researchers are using a relatively new tool to track the plume: "glider" robots that use water power to zigzag through the ocean.
Eight of these robots are now prowling the Gulf, driven remotely by researchers from institutions across the country. The gliders carry sensors to measure everything from water temperature to organic material that could mark the presence of dissolved oil.
The idea, said Rutgers University oceanographer Oscar Schofield, one of the collaborators on the effort, is to track the spill and provide data on ocean movement to improve predictions of where the oil will go next.
"These gliders are collecting physical data that?s helping keep the models on track, so they?re helping improve the ocean forecast," Schofield told TechNewsDaily.
The gliders look like torpedoes with wings. They move by sucking in seawater, which causes them to tip forward and sink. When the glider reaches the desired depth, it expels the water, causing it to tip back toward the surface. .../
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37779297/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Robots may improve predictions of where oil will go next
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0 itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 15px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 25px" itxtvisited="1">
Gliders move by sucking in seawater, which causes them to tip forward and sink. When the glider reaches the desired depth, it expels the water.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
By Stephanie Pappas
As the Gulf oil spill approaches its third month, researchers are using a relatively new tool to track the plume: "glider" robots that use water power to zigzag through the ocean.
Eight of these robots are now prowling the Gulf, driven remotely by researchers from institutions across the country. The gliders carry sensors to measure everything from water temperature to organic material that could mark the presence of dissolved oil.
The idea, said Rutgers University oceanographer Oscar Schofield, one of the collaborators on the effort, is to track the spill and provide data on ocean movement to improve predictions of where the oil will go next.
"These gliders are collecting physical data that?s helping keep the models on track, so they?re helping improve the ocean forecast," Schofield told TechNewsDaily.
The gliders look like torpedoes with wings. They move by sucking in seawater, which causes them to tip forward and sink. When the glider reaches the desired depth, it expels the water, causing it to tip back toward the surface. .../
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37779297/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
