Study Design Tool

Draw a study area, choose a simple transect design, and estimate survey distance and nominal mission duration. This prototype is intended for first-order study design rather than operational mission planning.

Study requirements

Use the polygon tool on the map to define one study area. Edit the polygon at any time; the design will update when you regenerate it.

Survey geometry

Survey pattern

Transect spacing10 km

Track orientation0°

0° = north-south transects; 90° = east-west.

Mission assumptions

Nominal horizontal speed0.50 kt

Glide angle26°

Angle from horizontal. Used with target depth to estimate the horizontal distance of one down-and-up dive cycle.

Target depth

Number of gliders

Map controls: click Draw study area, then click successive points on the map to add vertices. When you have at least three vertices, click Finish polygon. Use Clear area to start over. Then click Generate survey. While drawing, the rest of the map should remain fully clickable.

Map layers: blue lines = survey track; orange dots = estimated surfacing locations.

Land mask: shaded land is shown for visual guidance only. Survey tracks are not yet routed around land, so route distance and mission duration should be treated as approximate.

Loading land mask…

Survey estimate

Values below are geometric and first-order estimates. Currents, dive behavior, bathymetry, payload power, navigation, launch/recovery, and operational safety margins are not yet included.

Idealized dive cycle

Dive-cycle estimate

Cycle distance

Half-cycle

Approx. cycles

Profiles / 100 km

Surfacing markers

Orange dots on the map show estimated surfacing locations along the generated route. Depth and glide-angle changes update this preview immediately.

Draw a study polygon and press Generate survey to create an estimate.

Waypoint files

Turn the generated survey into a mission file for a Slocum or a Seaglider, or load a waypoint file from either glider to see it on the map. A loaded file becomes the waypoint set, so it can also be converted from one glider's format to the other.

No waypoints yet. Generate a survey or import a file.

Slocum · goto_list (.ma)

File name

Waypoint reached within m

Start at

After the last

Seaglider · targets

Target names

Radius m

After the last

Import a waypoint file

Drop a Slocum goto_l*.ma or a Seaglider targets file here, or choose one

The mission over the seafloor

Draws the planned track as it would actually be flown, against real bathymetry for the study area. Dive depth can follow the seafloor instead of being fixed, which is what a pilot would really do over a shelf break or a canyon.

Fixed depth Follow the seafloor

Clearance above seabed m

Draw a study area and press Generate survey, then build the 3D view.

Bathymetry from the GMRT Synthesis (Ryan et al., Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 2009), fetched live for the drawn area. The 3D view follows Glider Playground (Orlando Prugel-Bennett, National Oceanography Centre, Apache 2.0).

Distance note: route distance and mission duration are first-order estimates. The current planner does not yet remove over-land transect segments or calculate water-only transit paths around coastlines, islands, or other barriers.