2. WP5.1 Ground Segment Description with contributions from all partners
Lucas Merckelbach
Dan Hayes
with contributions from all partners

4. GROOM General Assembly
AIM
Aim of WorkPackage 5.1 is to determine
what kind of infrastructure is required for efficient underwater glider operations?
“Infrastructure” termed Glider Port
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

5. GROOM General Assembly
AIM
Questions to be answered are:
What is a glider port and what are its functions?
What components are needed?
How does it work (now)?
What can be done to
improve/extent?
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

6. GROOM General Assembly
Approach
Designed an extensive questionnaire
Analysis of the results
Identifying pros and cons
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

7. GROOM General Assembly
Questionnaire
Two purposes:
Gather information on status quo
Gather information on “Glider Port Guide” booklet
We used service of an external company to create an online survey (Lmental Mallorca).
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

8. GROOM General Assembly
Questionnaire
WP 5.1 Report
Topics:
Institute details
Facilities (hardware)
Software and communication
Sensor calibration
Logistics and access to sea
Glider fleet
Glider Port Guide
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

9. GROOM General Assembly
Respondents
Institutes that have responded:
GEOMAR
NOC
CSIC/SOCIB
OC-UCY
OGS
UdeC
UEA
CNRS
NERSC
PLOCAN
SAMS
HZG
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

10. GROOM General Assembly
Respondents
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

11. Glider Port Guide Booklet
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

12. Questionnaire results
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

13. GROOM General Assembly
Personnel
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

14. GROOM General Assembly
Personnel
Scientists seem to play an important role.
What is their input in the operational aspect of gliders?
What personnel effort is required per glider?
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

15. GROOM General Assembly
Personnel
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

16. GROOM General Assembly
Personnel
0.2 – 0.3 FTE Technician/glider
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

17. Other data from the questionnaire
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

18. GROOM General Assembly
Glider Port
Glider port:
Operate gliders and
gather data.
5 Core components
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

19. Glider Port Components
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

20. Operations and maintenance
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

21. GROOM General Assembly
Buoys Underwater Gliders and Ships
BUGS Finder
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

22. Glider Port Components
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

23. Mission planning and piloting
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

24. GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

25. GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

26. Glider Port Components
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

27. GROOM General Assembly
Data management
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

28. GROOM General Assembly
More details in Workpackage 3
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

29. Glider Port Components
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

30. Hardware calibration and development
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

31. GROOM General Assembly
“Wavepack”
Acoustic sensors
Video systems ….
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

32. Glider Port Components
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

33. GROOM General Assembly
“Public relations”
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

34. GROOM General Assembly
Networking with
other glider ports
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

35. Networked glider ports
No one-size-fits-all solution
Glider ports need to cooperate
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

36. Networked glider ports
An example of a fairly
sophisticated glider port.
Most important tasks
Covered but at great
costs/efforts.
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

37. GROOM General Assembly
A networked solution
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

38. GROOM General Assembly
A networked solution
Common divisor is that resources need to be shared.
GROOM: guide lines on how to achieve that
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

39. Organisational Models
Institutional level (dispersed)
Largely autonomous glider ports with optional small satellite glider ports
Example: Germany
National/regional level (centralised)
A collection of specialised glider ports, including ONE covering a broad spectrum of Operations, Mission design/Piloting and Sensor calibration
Example: France
European level
Most glider ports are specialised, complemented by a few glider port centres covering (almost) all aspects of the glider port palette
Glider port centres under one umbrella
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

40. GROOM General Assembly
Institutional level
“Classic” way
Centred at research institute/university
Optional “satellite” glider ports mainly for operational aspects
Advantages
Gliders can be used in a more flexible way
Researchers have more direct control over “their” gliders
Facilitates specialised and science driven solutions
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

41. GROOM General Assembly
Institutional level
For efficient operation of this model:
this type of glider port needs to be highly connected to other glider ports
in practice this is implemented unsatisfactorily at present day
This modus operandi has merit where:
There is no driving force or political will on national level to centralise activities
The national community is too small for implementing a centralised model
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

42. National/regional level
Centralised model
Relatively well equipped and developed glider port
Can be an entity on its own
Optional “satellite” glider ports mainly for operational aspects
Needs to engage with scientists with various levels of understanding of glider platform
Advantages
Highly skilled team
Law of scales applies
Management becomes more complex → sophisticated tools
Only one wheel needs to be invented
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

43. GROOM General Assembly
European level
Centralised model
Relatively well equipped and developed glider port
Can be an entity on its own
Optional “satellite” glider ports mainly for operational aspects
Needs to engage with scientists with various levels of understanding of glider platform
Advantages
Highly skilled team
Law of scales applies
Management becomes more complex → sophisticated tools
Only one wheel needs to be invented
Larger scale experiments
Paneuropean access
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

44. How can the future landscape of glider infrastructure look like?
Implementation of European level requires
Top-down approach with governing European umbrella or
Bottom-up approach with a broad consensus amongst partners (includes political consensus)
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

45. How can the future landscape of glider infrastructure look like?
Need to take into account the differences between countries and institutes (philosophy, size, finances)
Mix and match institutional level and national level
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

46. Mix and match institutional level and national level
Adopt the GROOM standards set out for data formats, sensor use/calibration etc. This provides the lingua franca
Promote and streamline the networking between glider ports
Promote joint developing of tools that are useful for wider community
Promote sharing of data processing schemes
Embrace SMEs to take part in the networked glider port concept
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

47. Getting SMEs into the mix
Some tasks of the glider port lend themselves to be outsourced (ballasting, piloting, sensor calibration)
SMEs can take over tasks that have a strong “service” character
Developing a sensor calibration setup is one thing, making it available to others is another...
Must be of (financial) interest to SMEs
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

48. Promote and streamline networking
Instrument: glider committee
Report and communicate current developments
Bring people together (connecting)
Identify new needs and opportunities
Accessible repository for various software projects (centrally or in cloud)
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris

49. GROOM General Assembly
Summary
Questionnaire for status quo
Booklet on glider ports
Defined the concept of glider ports and the
necessity for them to be networked
Discussed three models: institutional level, national level and European level
Proposed organisation of European glider infrastructure as a mix of institutional level and national level glider ports
Guiding instrument: glider committee
Inclusion of SMEs
GROOM General Assembly
19 September 2014, Paris