MiniMet (SVPBW) Drifter

Technical Description

  • Standard 35 cm sphere or modified spheroid surface float
  • GPS-based tracking
  • Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) telemetry
  • Sea surface temperature (±0.05 K accuracy)
  • Sea level wind speed and direction (wind speed: 2% accuracy FS)
  • Sea level barometric pressure sensor (±0.4 hPa accuracy)
  • Holey sock drogue centered at 15 m depth
  • Variable sampling rate down to 5 minutes

> Download technical illustration (321 KB pdf)

Wind Sensor

The MiniMet, or SVPBW, drifter was designed to be air-deployed in front of tropical cyclones.

The MiniMet carries the same air pressure sensors as the SVPB drifter and a Gill Windsonic sonic anemometer that measures wind speeds up to 60 m/s with a 2% accuracy FS. The wind direction is measured with an internal compass integrated in the LDL controller and has direction accuracy of ±2.5° after calibration.

 

Data Quality

The MiniMet’s surface buoy is larger than the one used for the SVPB drifter and features a wind vane whose purpose is to stabilize the buoy in the presence of strong winds. An algorithm similar to the one installed on the SVPB drifter is used to discard the invalid anemometer data that occur, for example, when the drifter is submerged.