The XI edition of the Glider School of PLOCAN brings together students and collaborators from fifteen countries from four continents with the main world manufacturers of commercial technologies, continuing its commitment as an international reference forum for high-level training in marine technologies for ocean observation.
The Glider School stands out once again for its international dimension with the origin of its students (Portugal, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Ireland, Kenya, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom), and of the companies that include manufacturers of the gliders and developers of oceanic sensors and component modules associated with these autonomous devices.
In addition to the different glider technologies, the Glider School dedicates several specific sessions to the sensorics and other component accessories that make up these autonomous observation platforms, such as satellite telemetry. It will also have the participation of reference users worldwide willing to share their experiences with the attending students.
The training activities of the XI edition of the Glider School include practical sessions in the laboratory and in the open waters of Gran Canaria, which will include technological advances, as well as the international dimensioning of users and applications. At the same time it will evaluate the contribution of the Glider School through the training of more than 160 students from the five continents, together with the participation of thirty leading companies and operators in the robotics sector for ocean observation.
The Glider School is part of an international multidisciplinary strategy, in which PLOCAN currently coordinates the European working group of gliders (Glider Task Team) in the context of the Ocean Observing System (EuroGOOS), in addition to being part of the international network EGO-gliderports, made up of highly specialized infrastructures with technical capabilities and the provision of both operational and training services related to underwater glider technology, among which the European EUMarineRobots project is integrated as a prominent action.
EGO (Everyone’s Gliding Observatories) is made up of members of the governmental, business and academic spheres, with representation in the five continents. EGO promotes the coordinated use and technological improvements of autonomous ocean observation devices through missions and experiments, tutorials, schools, technical notes, thematic forums, congresses, as well as data availability, communication protocols, from the field of dissemination and applied use of the information generated by the devices in various socio-economic sectors of the marine-maritime field at a global level.
