Measuring ocean turbulence with a tethered free-fall glider

A tethered free-fall microstructure glider was designed to make quasi-horizontal profiles of the ocean mixed layer. Glider tests were carried out at Emerald Bank on the Scotian Shelf in June 1996. The vehicle attained a 4:1 gliding angle with the angle of attack close to 0°. The glider typically stabilized its pitch and roll within the first 20 seconds of each flight. Vehicle speed started at 0.55 m s^-1 and decreased to 0.45 m s^-1 over the period of a 300 s flight due to the increase in drag of the tether cable. Microstructure data analyzed from two flights demonstrate differences in the ocean mixed layer under moderate and very light wind conditions