Gliders are autonomous vehicles propelling themselves through the ocean for a long period of time, either by changing their buoyancy or by taking advantage of the waves from the ocean. The gliders offer capability for persistent surveillance and monitoring of the underwater environment. Gliders have been demonstrated to be a cost-efficient solution for the measurement of seawater properties, such as temperature, salinity and optical properties. To date, their potential as a discreet and cost-effective means to perform other missions is still under investigation, requiring much larger energy capability than the most common oceanographic glider applications, which are based on low-power sensors such as CTD and optic sensors.
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