抄録
An underwater sliding vehicle (USA) is a kind of towing instrument with CTD sensors, which can measure continuously temperature and salinity profiles in the upper layer of the upper ocean. The principal features and the advantages are as follows.
The USV moves up and down along a faired cable by the command from the research vessel, when the catenary of faired cable is fixedby the depressor in tow. The vehicle has no need to lift the cable, and therefore, it can move rapidly up and down without rolling.
In order to communicate with the body in underwater, an inductive coupling data communication system was developed. This bidirectional communication system enables us to monitor the oceanic data in real-time, and to control the body motion with a personal computer on board.
In this paper, the characteristics of the body motion obtained in the open sea off Sanriku are shown. And more, the results of comparison between the temperature and salinity data obtained with the USV and with a standard CTD and an ordinary water sampler in the same sea, are expressed.
Finally, it is shown that the USV has a capability of measuring the complicated temperature section in such region as the marginal area of a Kuroshio warm-core ring.
