Liquid Robotics ASV Collects Data From Eye of Typhoon 

Photo courtesy Liquid Robotics,Inc.

 

By Priya Potapragada



Liquid Robotics’s Wave Glider autonomous surface vessel successfully gathered weather data through the eye of one of Asia’s biggest typhoons in 40 years, the Category 5 Typhoon Rammasun, in the South China Sea. 



“Our mission in building the Wave Glider was to build a surface drone which could persist in the ocean for very long periods of time despite the ocean’s harshest conditions,” says Roger Hine, founder and chief technology officer of Liquid Robotics. “There is no truer testament to the Wave Glider platform than the persistence of its sensor payload through one of the most catastrophic storms in recent history.”



Seaports and transportation systems in the typhoon’s path were closed, but the Wave Glider was able to collect and transmit real-time wave, temperature and conductivity data from the surface of the water. 



The Wave Glider collected data to 100 meters with full directional wave spectrum data, making it the first system of its kind that has the capability of surviving typhoon and hurricane conditions.



“There is no other method to study a storm of this magnitude from the surface of the ocean without an extreme high risk to human life,” says Gary Gysin, CEO of Liquid Robotics. “Scientists require this surface data to improve storm prediction models and early warning systems. The loss of life and property destruction from Typhoon Rammasun have only strengthened our resolve to instrument the ocean while our hearts are with those affected by this monstrous storm.”