Design and testing of an untethered vertically ascending profiler for use in measuring near-surface turbulence

The Vertically Ascending Micro-scale Profiler, or VAMP, has been designed, constructed, and tested to be used in conjunction with FAU's Turbulence Package in order to collect vertical turbulence profiles close to the free surface. Unique to VAMP is that it has been specifically designed as an untethered ascending profiler. Examination of turbulence data collected using VAMP shows that the measured shear spectrum and the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation closely matches the Nasmyth Spectrum. Data processing techniques made it possible to filter out motion generated by surface wave action, which allowed VAMP to collect data at depths as shallow as the troughs of the surface waves. VAMP can be launched, deployed several times, and recovered all within a thirty minute time frame by a crew of four.