Characterizing magnetic sensors and magnetic noise of AUVs

The goal of our research is to characterize the performance of an off-the-shelf Overhauser Sentinel magnetometer when towed by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). It is well known that the hydrodynamic motion of conductive seawater in the oceans through the earth's field leads to electrodynamic phenomena based on the dynamo effect. Oceanographic features such as surface waves, currents, and internal waves, produce electromagnetic signatures, which could be sensed and detected with an instrument that has the appropriate resolution and accuracy. This paper presents our preliminary work on characterizing the performance of the magnetic sensor, and the impact of the presence of a REMUS 100 AUV on it. The performance characterization consists of two major considerations: orientation sensitivity and vehicle anomaly sensitivity. Time-series and power spectral density results obtained from the orientation and vehicle sensitivity measurements will be presented.