Networked Acoustic Modems for Real-Time Data Delivery from Distributed Subsurface Instruments in the Coastal Ocean: Initial System Development and Performance

Abstract Results are reported from field tests of networked acoustic modems used for wireless real-time delivery of oceanographic measurements from a distributed array of subsurface instruments in coastal waters. The network demonstrated consists of sensor nodes, repeater nodes, gateway nodes, and a shore-based control center. Sensors are oceanographic instruments interfaced with acoustic modems, deployed in trawl-resistant bottom frames with azimuthally omnidirectional acoustic signaling needed for flexible network rerouting. Repeaters are individual acoustic modems to relay data so the array covers a larger area; only these relatively low-cost nodes are suited for deployment unprotected from trawlers. Gateways are buoys with acoustic modems interfaced to cellular telephone modems for communication between the underwater network and the shore. The experiment site is the inner continental shelf off Montauk Point, New York, and Block Island, Rhode Island, with a U.S. Coast Guard navigation buoy equipped as...

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