Underwater glider: Its applicability in the East/Japan sea

The underwater glider is an autonomous vehicle that can glide through the ocean interior by using a pair of wings attached to its body and can move up and down through the water column by changing its buoyancy. As of now, there are three widely-used gliders, namely, the Spray that was codeveloped by Scripps Oceanographic Institution and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Slocum produced by the Webb Research Cooperation, and the Seaglider that was produced by the University of Washington. In this paper, I will introduce these three gliders and discuss the principles and procedures related to glider operation as well as the application and extendability of modern physical and biogeochemical sensors to gliders. My experiences in developing a glider for measuring ocean turbulence and testing it 7 times during 12 days are shared in this paper. On the basis of my experiences and knowledge, different kinds of aspects that should be considered for successful glider operation are discussed. In addition, a suggestion is made as to what would be the ideal way to operate underwater gliders in the East/ Japan Sea. At the end, the current status of active glider operation teams is presented and the efforts to proceed toward future gliders are briefly introduced.