Underwater currents (or rivers, sometimes called) represent a powerful source of energy in the ocean. Basically, water currents under the ocean's surface have plenty of motion energy. Tapping into this energy could be done using underwater hydro-turbines. Several problems exist, one of the most important ones being there is no detailed data on the behavior of underwater currents, not yet anyway. There has been research within this subject over the years, but a useful "current map" wasn't available. Until now, that is. Researchers from the Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET, Florida Atlantic University), have successfully developed and now deployed a method for gathering baseline information for characterizing in more detail the spatial and temporal variability of the Gulf Stream.

COET deployed four Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) morrings in the Atlantic Ocean, right off the east coast of Florida, about 8 to 36 km from the coastline, at depths of about 221 to 645 meters. The Gulf Stream is the most energy dense ocean current, and getting this data will mark a major development in ocean energy development.

ADCPs use high-frequency, low-power sonars to measure water velocity throughout water columns at single locations, and it does so every thrity minutes. The devices are going to deployed for a period of eight months, which should result in quite a lot of data, making the profiling process quite accurate.

For more info or illustrations of the ADCPs, visit their site. We've embedded their deployment video below which shows and explains in quite enough detail the whole operation as well as the concept and a little bit of theory. Enjoy!