Glider Performance
Every glider in the rodeo flew the same plan: a shakedown, then fast,
slow, intermediate and drift blocks, then a short
repeat of slow, intermediate and fast at the end (the mini-modes, right of the hairline in each
panel). Because the modes are shared, the differences below are differences between the
platforms, not between missions. Numbers come from
output/glider_performance_summary.xlsx; each panel keeps its own y-axis, because a watt
and a cubic centimetre do not belong on one scale.
Tradeoff explorer
The mission modes exist to answer what speed costs. Put one metric on each axis and every glider-mode combination becomes a point, so the shape of the tradeoff shows up directly. Connect the modes to follow one glider through the plan.
Ranking
Every glider-mode combination on one metric, sorted. This is the view for “who used the least energy per kilometre” — and for seeing how much of the spread is the platform and how much is the mode it was flying.
Mode comparison
The same numbers as a grid: one row per glider, one column per mode. Gaps are combinations with no data rather than zeroes.
Data recorded
How much raw data each system actually wrote during the rodeo. The deployments were not the same length, so the per-day figure is the fairer comparison between PAM systems — and the spread is mostly channel count and sample rate, not platform.
Efficiency
Two sections above ask what a kilometre cost and how much each system recorded. This divides one by the other: how far a glider went, and how much it wrote, for every kilowatt‑hour it spent. Up and to the right is more of both for the same energy. Neither axis is the answer — a platform can buy data with distance, and the fastest way to look efficient on the vertical axis is to record at a high bit rate.
The numbers
Every value on this page, for the gliders, modes and metrics selected above. Hover is a convenience; this table is the source.
Platforms
One row per glider: what it is, how long it flew, what it recorded, and how its energy use was measured.