iDrifter: a new IRIDIUM drifter developed at IMEDEA/SOCIB has been deployed

March 7, 2012

A new lagrangian drifting buoy developed by the Marine Technologies, Operational Oceanography and Sustainability (TMOOS) department of IMEDEA, in collaboration with SOCIB under the ETD Technology Development Division (patent pending), has been recently deployed by SOCIB.

This drifter has been deployed north of Soller (Mallorca, Balearic Islands) on 28th of February 2012. During the drifter life time (expected more than 12 months) the real time data and its trajectory will be available for public download. This new drifter design minimizes size and weight of standard drifters (SVP and CODE) by reducing its energy consumption. This reduction of mechanical characteristics is focused on minimizing the threat for maritime traffic when buoys are drifted to nearshore environments. This optimization of energy consumption has been obtained by the use of the bidirectional capabilities of the IRIDIUM SBD satellite communication system, low power electronic components, and several energy saving methods implemented by software.

General specifications:

Communications: IRIDIUM Short Burst Data (SBD)
Positioning: GPS and IRIDIUM
Measures:
- GPS Position
- Sea surface temperature (SST)
- Battery voltage
Transmission methods:
- International standard message format (Data Buoy Cooperation Panel, DBCP)
- Compressed file
Mechanical Characteristics:
- 3Kgr weight
- 14cm max. diameter X 39 cm height
Controller:
- ARM7TDMI microcontroller with 2GBytes micro SD card
Theoretical Life Time:
- 20 months using compressed file transmission, 10 months transmitting DBCP messages every 2 hours.