About the Project
Knowledge of sea state is critical for assessing the safety and placement of offshore structures such as oil platforms, for shipping (scheduling, navigation, safety, passenger comfort) and for determining dispersion of marine pollutants and oil spills. This project will improve sea state determination with modelling and centimetre measurement of the wave field using a GPS (+GLONASS) Wave Glider.
The Wave Glider (manufactured by Liquid Robotics, www.liquid-robotics.com) is an autonomous ocean vehicle self-propelled via wave energy that can be deployed unmanned at sea for months. Unlike buoys (which also provide sea surface measurements), it is not constrained to one location, or constrained to fixed routes as many ships are, which also do not directly measure the sea surface or the waves themselves. Piloting of the Wave Glider is via waypoints (uploaded to the Wave Glider via an Iridium satellite communication link from any web browser) and an on-board navigation GPS, although this can only provide wave height accuracy to around 10 m. To achieve centimetric measurement wave height quality, we have integrated a geodetic GPS+GLONASS receiver within the Wave Glider, with the carrier phase data then analysed using specialist GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) scientific software in ‘Precise Point Positioning’ mode. At present, such geodetic data are logged on-board but all analysis is done in post-processed mode.
Specifically, this project will involve:
- Validation of the GPS+GLONASS wave measurement quality and robustness through wave simulator experiments including with videogrammetry, plus offshore data sets. Part of this will investigate what range of sea states the GNSS Wave Glider can provide centimetric height quality, and the benefits of combining measurements from both the GPS and GLONASS satellite systems.
- Develop wave field models, including using meteorological data collected from the Wave Glider.
- Develop a high precision (centimetre level height quality) GPS+GLONASS data processing and analysis method for subsequent Wave Glider on-board implementation. This will involve seeing what quality of sea surface height measurement can be attained with the minimum GNSS data possible in near real-time mode.
Principal data provision will be from a unique 2-week offshore experiment from 2016 (https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/miguelmoralesmaqueda/), that includes not just GNSS data but also tilt meter and meteorological data continuously logged on-board the Wave Glider as it traversed a route of around 600 km. Further data collection opportunities are possible during this project. GNSS data will be analysed and processed principally using the PANDA scientific software package under the Linux environment. Some programming, likely in Fortran90 and/or Python, is likely, together with Linux scripting and use of high performance computing.
This project falls within the EPRSC ‘Living with Environmental Change’ themes Coastal Engineering and Resource Efficiency, and its Energy theme (Marine Wave and Tidal).
Funding Notes
UK citizens are eligible for 100% of UK tuition fees paid and annual living expenses of £14,553 (full award).
EU citizens from outside the UK are eligible for fees only (partial award).
The award is available to UK/EU applicants only. Depending on how you meet the EPSRC’s eligibility criteria, you may be entitled to a full or a partial award.
Eligibility Criteria
You must have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2:1 honours degree or equivalent in Surveying / Geomatics, Mathematics, Oceanography, Physics, Engineering or related maths-based subject. Experience of programming and Linux scripting will also be beneficial.
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