Nov 20

Posted by: Fabian Wolk
Friday, November 20, 2009

Marcus Dengler and his team recovered their "Turbulenzgleiter," a Webb Slocum glider carrying an RSI microRider turbulence module, near the equator west off Liberia.This was the first mission for this glider-microRider and it completed without a hitch. 

Group picture with the "turbulence glider", From left: Dr. Marcus Dengler - Turbulence researcher, Dr. Gerd Krahmann - glider expert, Prof. Dr. Peter Brandt - Chief Scientist M80-1, all the IFM-GEOMAR. Foto: H. v. Neuhoff. Photo: H. von Neuhoff.

The glider completed an 8-day mission with repeated dives between the surface and 350 m depth. The course was set to circle around one of IFM's equatorial moorings. A preliminary analysis of the collected turbulence data shows clear signals in the upper and lower shear zone of the  Equatorial Undercurrent. "When the Glider encounters a well developed turbulent patch, its pitch and roll variance goes up suggesting that the glider behaves similar to an airplane in well developed atmospheric turbulence," reports Dengler in an email to RSI earlier this week. "The only interference from the glider we got was while it is using the pumps at the bottom of th dive and at the surface."

For more information on the "Turbulenzgleiter" visit the IFM GEOMAR press webpages.

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Photo above: Group picture with the "turbulence glider", From left: Dr. Marcus Dengler - Turbulence researcher, Dr. Gerd Krahmann - glider expert, Prof. Dr. Peter Brandt - Chief Scientist M80-1, all the IFM-GEOMAR. Foto: H. v. Neuhoff. Photo: H. von Neuhoff.

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