Research
UVI Ocean Gliders support UVI and regional research projects, as well as provide educational
opportunities for students in the USVI and Eastern Caribbean.
UVI Ocean Glider Lab Research Projects:
MRI: Acquisition of Ocean Gliders for Marine Science Research Support at the University
of the Virgin Islands
This NSF Major Research Instrumentation Award established the UVI Ocean Glider Lab,
equipped it with two Teledyne Webb Research G3 Slocum Gliders, and and provides initial
support for UVI staff and students to learn glider operations in preparation for further
research projects. Initial training is being aided by TWR and Rutgers University
Center for Ocean Observing Leadership. UVI Ocean Gliders will be deployed in 2023
and 2024 on missions around the USVI in support of research and training activities.
CHAOS: Coordinated Hurricane Atmosphere-Ocean Sampling
CHAOS is a component of the 2023 NOAA Hurricane Field Program focusing on the the
coordination of diverse new observing platforms (i.e., autonomous, uncrewed, expendable)
and conventional ones (e.g., aircraft) to support: Sustained monitoring of key ocean
features of the Gulf of Mexico, tropical Atlantic, and/or the Caribbean Sea, and targeted
observing of the air-sea transition zone to improve the understanding of air-sea interactions
for improved prediction of TC intensification. UVI will partner with Rutgers University
to deploy UVI gliders in the NE Caribbean during the 2023 hurricane season, collecting
upper ocean data and delivering it immediately into the ocean models used to forecast
tropical cyclones.
Passive Acoustic Monitoring for Marine Mammal Stock Assessments using Gliders in the
Caribbean: Filling a NMFS Operational Gap
Through an award from the NOAA Uncrewed Systems Research Transition Office, in collaboration
with the NOAA NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center Marine Mammal and Turtle Division
(NOAA P.I. Dr. Melissa Soldevilla), UVI gliders will be fitted with DMON2 Passive
Acoustic Monitoring sensors and deployed on missions in the US Caribbean in 2024 /
2025 to collect data for development of regional marine mammal stock assessment algorithms.
The study will include operations concurrent with additional types of ocean gliders
to evaluate capability, with the goal of delivering an operational stock assessment
plan incorporating uncrewed systems.
G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation International Challenger Mission
UVI has been a partner with Rutgers University in the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation
International Challenger Mission since 2019. These international glider missions
in the Eastern Caribbean support Ocean Observing as a way to develop international
science and research ties and build regional capacity. In 2019 – 2021, glider missions
were carried out in the northeast Caribbean supporting hurricane studies and climate
dynamics. In 2022-23, in partnership with the French Office of Biodiversity and the
AGOS Marine Sanctuary in Martinique, gliders are collecting ocean data and passive
acoustic data of marine mammal sounds. In 2025, we will launch a mission from the
USVI to collect data on a north-south trans-Caribbean section from Dominican Republic
to Curacao.
- Contact Us -
Phone: St. Thomas (340) 693-1381 Fax: (340) 693-1385
E-mail:pjobsis@live.uvi.edu
Website:http://cmes.uvi.edu
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Center for Marine and Environmental Studies
University of the Virgin Islands
#2 John Brewers Bay
St. Thomas, USVI 00802
