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Slocum Piloting Checklist

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A daily pilot log. Work down the list each piloting day, recording the value from the indicated source and flagging anything outside its normal range.

Source

The core daily-log format below is this site's own; the Environment section and first-piloting-day/weekly items are paraphrased from a NorGliders / University of Bergen (UiB) piloting checklist.

Pilot:  ___________________________   Glider S/N:  _____________   Date (UTC):  _____________

First piloting day of a deployment

  • Deployment files were prepared and reviewed before launch: sg_calib_constants.m-equivalent config, cmdfile, targets, .pagers, and the science file
  • Pre-deployment self-test reviewed (.cap/.eng/.log files against pass/fail guidelines)
  • Pre-launch check confirmed — glider calling in and responding to $QUIT
  • First few dives run one at a time ($QUIT between each) while trimming $C_VBD, $C_PITCH, $PITCH_GAIN, $C_ROLL_DIVE, $C_ROLL_CLIMB
  • Compass calibration scheduled — data is unreliable until it's done
  • Safety parameters revisited a few days in, once the glider is behaving well ($N_NOCOMMS, $NOCOMM_ACTION, $CAPUPLOAD, $GO)
  • cmdfile trimmed down to the parameters that actually need to be sent each dive

Confirm Science and Navigation against the campaign plan, and create a new important log entry with a fresh campaign summary for reference.

Status & Identity

Source: glider dialog unless noted.

  • Date
  • Last surface reason
  • Current mission
  • Mission time  paste the seconds timestamp; glider aborts for overtime every 45 days**
  • GPS location
  • Next surfacing is in  estimated from glider history
  • Performance of navigation last leg  are we headed to the desired waypoint?
  • Navigation to / why  which waypoint are we going to, and potentially why

Note

If the waypoint is not part of the campaign plan, update the campaign plan.

Environment

  • Ice status  is there ice nearby? Should $USE_ICE,1 be set? Are ice charts (ice.ice_chart) updating regularly?
  • Weather forecast  wind direction/speed — pay particular attention if operating near the ice edge, which can move fast
  • Bathymetry / water depth  about to change? Are strong currents or eddies expected ahead?

Devices & Altimeter

  • Devices  from SFMC — are any devices in error?
  • Altimeter  is it seeing bottom, and at what depth is it turning on?
  • Number of yos and depth  from SFMC

Note

If the in-water navigation has changed from the campaign plan, update the plan.

Science

  • Science  is science data coming back when and how expected for the sensors below — or changed?
  • CTD  compare against campaign plan
  • Sensor 1 __________  name the sensor and compare against campaign plan
  • Sensor 2 __________  name the sensor and compare against campaign plan
  • Sensor 3 __________  name the sensor and compare against campaign plan
  • Sensor 4 __________  name the sensor and compare against campaign plan

Note

  • If science sampling needed to be changed, update the campaign plan.
  • At least once a week, confirm the sampling of all science sensors against the Science Campaign plan.

Mission Script & Power Modes

  • Script  copy from terminal
  • Current correction  on or off, from dialog
  • Lower power mode  off, or the value in use, from glider dialog
  • File hygiene  any unnecessary files loaded on the glider (old .bat, targets, science)? Move them to .last if so

Note

If the script needs to change or is having difficulty, add a comment to Notes below and include it in the handover / notification to the lead pilot.

Energy & Consumption

Comment if too high or too low.

  • Consumption
  • m_lithium_battery_relative_charge (%)
  • m_coulomb_amphr_total (amp-hrs)
  • Expected end date  at 80% and 100%

Health & Vacuum

  • m_vacuum  from glider dialog — typically 8–11
  • Leak-detect voltages  from glider dialog — typically 2.4–2.5
  • Battery surface voltage  from glider dialog
  • Battery min voltage  record and compare against history, looking for outlying results
  • Battery max voltage  record and compare against history, looking for outlying results

Flight & Ballast

  • Dive profiles symmetric  True / False — if false, how and why
  • Autoballast converged  True / False — if false, how and why; add climb and dive CC here
  • m_avg_speed  from glider dialog — watch for trend changes
  • Pitch / Roll  from SFMC — watch for trend changes
  • Battpos  from SFMC — watch for trend changes

Campaign & Notes

  • Has the campaign plan changed and been updated?  why and what? Campaigns can change for PI / distress / feature / other

    Note

    If yes — update the Campaign Log and mark important.

  • Notes  free-form — anything we need to keep an eye on?

    Note

    If there is a concern, notify the lead pilot(s), add it to the handover email, or both.

  • Weather  wave and wind speed and direction (e.g. from Windy)

  • Obstacles  ice edge, shallows, shelf edge, etc. — piloting concerns that might lead to a change of mission or campaign

Weekly

  • Review battery endurance and whether the glider is running energy-efficient ($MAX_BUOY, $SM_CC — see Power Saving)
  • Keep your team's glider status record up to date with changes, aborts, and recoveries
  • Register deployment start/end with your organization's tracking systems and any relevant data registries (e.g. OceanOPS)

Saving this log

  • Make sure the location of this log is referenced in the handover email and the campaign plan.
  • If highly customised for a particular campaign, save a new template of the log to the expedition's folder.
  • Typically a pilot saves this template locally and fills it out each day.