Subsurface ocean currents data holds immense value for a range of marine professionals. Whether it's physical oceanographers analyzing wave-current dynamics or engineers evaluating baseline currents for offshore wind projects, real-time access to current speed and direction enhances both the safety and efficiency of ocean research and operations.
Existing subsurface current measurement solutions, however, are insufficient. Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP), for example, are typically expensive, require a large vessel and a complex frame to deploy, do not transmit data in real-time, lose accuracy near the surface, and cannot be deployed in all ocean conditions. More affordable approaches, such as using data collected by a tidal station, restrict marine professionals’ capacity to access observations at a site of their choosing or at the necessary level of granularity.
Ultimately, many marine professionals spend a lot of time and money and employ a mix of multiple solutions, only to access current data that is not at their desired resolution or not available in real-time.
Many marine professionals are moving away from ADCPs and other legacy current measurement solutions in favor of Sofar’s Spotter Platform. Spotter makes it easy to collect subsurface current data at scale. The extensible ocean sensing platform collects real-time measurements of current speed and direction, and transmits them in real-time via satellite and cellular to enable remote accessibility. These observations can be colocated with Spotter’s other surface and subsurface measurements: waves, wind, temperature, pressure, dissolved oxygen, acoustics, and more.
Here’s how Spotter differentiates from the industry standard ADCP:
In a 24-day field comparison, Spotter made observations of current speed and direction that were nearly identical to those made by an ADCP. Spotter was easier to deploy and recover than the ADCP, and the ocean data it collected was significantly easier to access.
“The [Spotter Platform] is a game changer for the collection of real-time ocean current data,” said Cooke Aquaculture Corporate Engineer Adam Turner. “The system is easy to deploy, the data is reliable, and the insights provided are incredibly valuable for the operation of our fish farms.
Marine professionals across the blue economy are choosing Spotter to efficiently collect ocean data at scale. Industries benefiting from Spotter’s real-time surface and subsurface observations include:
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Interested to learn more about our Spotter Platform and its subsurface current measurement capabilities? Book a call to talk with one of our sales team experts below.
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