Del Mar Oceanographic and RBR Sign Collaboration Agreement

Del Mar Oceanographic (DMO) and RBR have signed a collaboration agreement for the provision of Wirewalkers™ with RBR CTDs and sensors in Australia and New Zealand. 



The DMO Wirewalker, originally designed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is a field-proven vertically profiling instrument platform powered by ocean waves.  Attached to a free-drifting or moored buoy, the Wirewalker ratchets downward along a suspension wire under wave power. At a predetermined depth, the ratchet releases and the profiler then ascends at its terminal velocity (~0.5m/s), completely decoupled from sea-surface motion. A very clean data record is obtained to within one meter of the sea surface.

RBR has been designing and building oceanographic instrumentation for nearly 50 years and specializes in industry leading, low power, high accuracy sensors and loggers. Mounting RBR’s multi-channel loggers, integrated with up to 10 different sensors and external batteries onto the Wirewalker, allows users to acquire high frequency micro-structure data throughout the entire water column. Combining the Wirewalker system further with a turn-key realtime telemetry system, comprised of a RBR inductive modem and RBRcervello, allows users to access data from anywhere in the world. 

Therefore, by combining the Wirewalker’s rapid profiling, simplicity, and robustness with high-accuracy, low-powered RBR loggers and realtime telemetry system, users can enjoy an enormous increase in vertical resolution and deploy for longer periods of time.



Chris Kontoes, Sales Director at DMO, commented “There is clear synergy in pairing a NO-powered profiler with a low-powered, high-quality sensing package.  Similarly, this partnership will surely enable research possibilities in the Australian/New Zealand region that neither company could offer on our own.“



Speaking on behalf of RBR, Sales Director Eric Siegel commented “The combination of the Wirewalker’s rapid vertical profiling with the high-accuracy and low-power RBR sensors have enabled a tremendous number of new measurement opportunities for scientific researchers and silent surveillance programs.  We are excited to form a closer partnership with DMO to bring the same technology to Australia and New Zealand.“