Chemical Plume Tracing via an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Olfactory-based mechanisms have been hypothesized for biological behaviors including foraging, mate-seeking, homing, and host-seeking. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) capable of such chemical plume tracing feats would have applicability in searching for environmentally interesting phenomena, unexploded ordinance, undersea wreckage, and sources of hazardous chemicals or pollutants. This article presents an approach and experimental results using a REMUS AUV to find a chemical plume, trace the chemical plume to its source, and maneuver to reliably declare the source location. The experimental results are performed using a plume of Rhodamine dye developed in a turbulent, near-shore, oceanic fluid flow.