Fluorometers: Integration experiences with unmanned vehicles

The development of revolutionary tools such as AUVs and other unmanned vehicles has offered oceanographers a chance to explore areas that are not easily accessible and address questions that have yet to be answered. The ability of unmanned vehicles to reach these under-sampled parts of the ocean is motivating researchers to install, equip, and attach as many sensors as possible to obtain measurements and they are installing many different types - physical, chemical, and biological. It is not only the increased accessibility which makes these deployments appealing to scientists, but also unmanned deployments can occur at a fraction of the cost of manned research vessels. However, there are many challenges faced when integrating sensors with unmanned vehicles. Optical sensors such as fluorometers are prone to interferences from ambient light and biofouling organisms. Acoustic instruments draw a lot of power and have to be budgeted for with respect to payload capability and other instruments required or mounted. And some important assays require reagents that cannot be accommodated for given the size constraints of the vehicle and would be difficult to perform without people on board to do them. These types of issues, and others, need to be considered when manufacturing instruments designated for integration with AUVs or unmanned vehicles. However, neither the integrator nor the vendor can take the full burden of resolving the issues faced. Turner Designs is a fluorometer manufacturer that has collaborated quite a bit with different vendors regarding fluorometer integrations with AUVs and other unmanned vehicles. There is increasing interest in characterizing the biology of water, not just the physical as has been done for several years now. With this in mind, fluorometers should be optimized for easy, simple integration into multiple platforms and as fluorometer vendors for over 45 years, we have the expertise to manufacture such instrumentation; guidance is what is currently lacking. Over the past few years, however, our collaborations with multiple agencies resulted in successful deployments.