Cost-effective remote data acquisition a nd instrumentation management foro ceanographic and environmentalmonitoring applications

摘要

An engineering challenge associated with environmental monitoring and oceanographic research has been the cost-effective provision of remote measurements in real time. Exposure to the elements, limited electrical power, access restrictions and the corrosive or conductive effects of seawater places rigorous demands upon the design of such measurement systems. This paper discusses remote oceanographic measurement data transfer designs that are based around a modern programmable satellite communicator that was primarily intended for low cost global asset tracking and management. Two primary applications for this technology are described. The first involves relaying information from a passenger vessel of opportunity with an oceanographic measurement system fitted while the vessel is at sea out of range of land-based communication systems. The second application involves the demonstration of a near real-time measurement system with the capability of remotely interrogating and, if required, reconfiguring previously deployed oceanographic instrumentation.