Date of Award

2014

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)

Department

Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering

First Advisor

Godi Fischer

Abstract

This Thesis presents a prototype design for Sonobuoy Mobile Earthquake Recorder in Marine Areas by Independent Divers (Son-O-MERMAID), a floating instrument that acts as a freely drifting seismometer that captures acoustic signals caused by distant seismic activity. A first version of Son-O-MERMAID was built and deployed in October of 2012, but due to Hurricane Sandy the device was destroyed and data lost. A major limitation of this device was the fact that acoustic data was collected and stored in a submerged computer at a depth of 2,000 feet and data was only accessible once the device was pulled out of the water at test completion. A new prototype system, version 2 is described, constructed and successfully tested which provides additional features not offered by the previous version. These additional features consist of providing an effective algorithm to transfer acoustic data from the submerged computer to the surface in real time to be stored there for future analysis. Additionally, a stratum one NTP server has been implemented with time synchronized to GPS so acoustic data can be time stamped. Testing demonstrates that data is transferred in its entirety and in real time to the surface unit which will subsequently enable the transfer of data to a land-based station via IRIDIUM for real time analysis.

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