A Wave Glider autonomous surface vehicle, from the PLOCAN fleet, has been put into operation in waters near Faial Island in Azores for a monitoring mission within the framework of the European project “Innovation in the Deep Atlantic Ocean Framework (iFADO )” where it will sail almost a thousand nautical miles to the island of Gran Canaria.
The Wave Glider deployment in Azorean waters, under the coordination of PLOCAN, has been supported by technical and operational staff from the University of Azores, University of Algarve and Regional Fund of Science and Technology (FRCT) of the Government of Azores.
The mission has scientific-technical and operational goals in line with the tasks of the project, which among others includes detecting and covering the lack of marine observation in the context of the deep Atlantic Ocean, using the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and its implementation through the application of innovative products.
The Wave Glider in this case integrates a dedicated meteorological and oceanographic sensor configuration, intended for data collection in order to better characterize the study area, as a basis for forecasting models and tools, as well as to implement the MSFD indicators.
iFADO is a four-year project, funded by the EU-Program Interreg Atlantic Area through its 2016 call. It is coordinated by the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) of Portugal, and has the participation of twenty partners both public and private sectors representing Portugal, Ireland, United Kingdom, Spain and France. For its execution, iFADO combines ocean monitoring both on-site and remote through conventional systems and methodologies with cutting-edge technologies standing autonomous platforms such ocean gliders. PLOCAN is responsible for work package five, dedicated to emerging technologies for on-site ocean monitoring a task where the glider mission started takes place.
Mission tracking in real-time through PLOCAN glider portal http://obsplatforms.plocan.eu/vehicle/USV/71/
