Professor Gwyn Griffiths is head of the Underwater Systems Laboratory at the National Oceanography Centre (NOCS) as well as being a member of the Fluid Structures Interactions group. Research at the Underwater Systems Laboratory covers three broad areas:
- in-situ platforms from which measurements and observations of the oceans can be made
- sensors for measuring, among other things, the physical, chemical, biological and geological aspects of the ocean environment together with the study of data interpretation and validation of new sensors
- generic technologies in support of the first two areas, such as energy storage and materials
Our research projects include:
Platforms research
- Risk and reliability of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
- Autosub 3
- Underwater gliders - following on from a successful project with the Ministry of Defence, the gliders are now being deployed as part of the NERC RAPID climate change programme
Sensors
- Microelectrodes for fast-response measurements of dissolved substances such as oxygen (with colleagues from Chemistry)
- Physics-based Optical sensors for chemical measurements for example through UV absorption for nitrate
- Chemical-based Optical sensors for chemical measurements, e.g. a long-path absorption measurements for iron, manganese and ammonia (with colleagues from Ocean and Earth Science)
- Micro-Electro-Mechanical systems (MEMS) as the basis for biological and chemical oceanographic sensors (with colleagues from Electronics and Computer Science and the Optoelectronics Research Centre)
- Sensors for marine meteorology
Generic technologies
- Energy provision for autonomous underwater vehicles, including investigation of fuel cell and reactant storate technologies
- Lightweight materials for use with underwater systems, including 'soft-bodied' approaches
- Telemetry systems - acoustic and other through-water methods, radio and satellite methods