PacIOOS Ocean Gliders: SeaGlider 148: Mission 17

Additionally, these data get used in computer models to make predictions about ocean conditions. Ocean gliders are small, free-swimming, unmanned vehicles that can cruise the ocean for several months gathering information about the temperature, salinity, and other water properties between the surface and 1000 m depth.

A pressure sensor on the glider is able to record the depth throughout the dive. Because gliders are unmanned, they communicate with scientists on land when they are at the surface using an antenna on the end of the glider. The SeaGlider autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) was designed at the University of Washington (UW) Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).