Measurements of upper ocean structure using aquashuttle from ships-of-opportunity and research vessels

Aquashuttle is a high technology towed profiling sensor system specifically designed for upper ocean observations and biological oceanography. It has the capability to be deployed from ships-of-opportunity, with top speeds in excess of 20 knots, to gain high resolution, quasi-synoptic measurements which are complementary to the scales observed in daily satellite imagery of the oceans. The vehicle is attached by a towing cable to the mother ship and the data from the sensors are either recorded in situ or communicated up the cable to a shipboard computer, which can be relayed, via satellite, back to shore-based laboratories. The various sensor suites used and those currently being evaluated are discussed together with examples of data collected from shelf and open ocean programmes. The vehicle and its sensor suite has been recommended as the main instrument to provide data for monitoring the changing states of large marine ecosystems.