Saab Seaeye Falcon for ocean research

A Saab Seaeye Falcon electric underwater robotic vehicle is to help support a network of oceanographic and atmospheric sensors that are part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) transforming ocean research.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the overall OOI programme is managed by Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The moored, mobile autonomous, and cabled sensors provide real-time data access to address critical issues such as climate change, ecosystem variability, ocean acidification, and carbon cycling.  The observatory consists of:

  • The Coastal & Global Scale Nodes (CGSN) which include sensor arrays moored off the coast of Massachusetts, Alaska, and Greenland, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
  • The Endurance Array (EA) off the coast of Oregon and Washington, operated by Oregon State University,
  • The Regional Cabled Array (RCA), a submarine cable network of sensors and instruments, operated and managed by the University of Washington,
  • As well as the Cyberinfrastructure, managed by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

After deploying a third party ROV for several years it was concluded that a dedicated underwater robotic vehicle could be a significant addition to the suite of tools available to the programme and provide operational flexibility, as well as scheduling and budget optimisation.

For more information visit www.saabseaeye.com