Acoustic application analysis of wave glider

The wave glider is a new unmanned ocean vehicle crossing sea-surface and underwater. It could be used as a mobile station to provide real-time relay communication between underwater equipment and shore station. As its propulsion power is almost unlimited, long term oceanographic observation could be deployed by the wave glider with different sensors in a large area. A wave gilder integrated with acoustic payloads can be taken as an acoustic sensor. Detection capability can be improved when several acoustic sensors move along the planned trajectory that forms a large receiving array. A wave glider towed self-contained hydrophone is deployed in the offshore of Qingdao. Ambient noise, wave glider generated noise and bioacoustics signals are recorded. Self-noise characteristics of wave glider are analyzed with these recorded data. Noise generating mechanism of wave glider is analyzed according to the operational principles of wave glider and the experimental data recorded underwater and in laboratory. Some advices to reduce the mechanical noise of wave glider based on the noise analysis are proposed, and a reasonable towing structure of acoustic payload is given.