Hydroball-a new expendable: uses and issues

A description is given of the Hydroball system, a transportable, easy to operate, low-cost, expendable current and temperature profiling system that operates from stationary platforms and moving vessels in water depths up to 500 m. It operates on the principle of calculating a current velocity profile from the dynamic response of a freely falling object. It uses an expendable Lagrangian drifter, spherical in shape, which houses an acoustic transducer, pressure sensor, thermistor, and timing electronics. Results of laboratory tests and field trials are presented that confirm the validity of the approach.<>