Low cost link for acoustic telemetry

During the past decade, the capabilities of marine research data acquisition instrumentation have dramatically improved. The need to have access to this data on a real-time basis has also intensified, spawning a number of acoustic telemetry development programs. However, reliable, high-speed, acoustic communications from seafloor instrumentation to shore facilities has been slow to develop, primarily due to the complexity of the seafloor/sea-surface interface, but also because the solutions have been energy-intensive and costly. A new approach has been tested based on the development of a low cost, low-power, acoustic repeater buoy (ARB).