DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF GPRS COMMUNICATION BASED DRIFTING BUOY FOR MEASUREMENT OF UPPER LAYER CURRENT IN COASTAL AREA

摘要

Drifting buoys are the effective observation platform in monitoring speed and direction of ocean's mixed layer surface currents more specifically up to the water depth of 150 m. National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, India, has developed a drifting buoy (DB) which is built with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) based data communication for coastal observations. It works with two-way communications for data downloading and system programing. The drifting buoy is equipped with a high accuracy smart Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to provide periodic positional updates on coordinates and time. The DB is powered with a battery bank of internal alkaline D-size cells. The unique features of the drifting buoy are that it is rugged, lightweight, inexpensive, and built to have an endurance of three years. Details of GPRS based drifting buoy and the test results from the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra in 2014 are presented in this paper.