The MARS Portal - Monitoring UK Underwater Glider and AUV operations

Marine Autonomous Systems (MAS) are increasingly becoming the preferred tool for many aspects of oceanography. MAS systems such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Underwater Gliders can be operated for days, weeks or months, often over the horizon beyond the visual line of sight of the operator. Thus, it is crucial to have suitable tools to track and visualise the status and data these vehicles collect. In this paper, we will describe the iterative development of the MARS Portal, the National Oceanography Centre’s tool, to enable stakeholders to monitor the activities of its large fleet of MAS vehicles. Through three iterations, the portal has evolved to meet the growing needs of stakeholders, the increased capability of the vehicles and growing utilisation. Through examples of routine and high-profile operations, we will demonstrate the role the system has performed in enabling glider and AUV operations for the last eight years.