Suman Stefano

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Suman
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Stefano
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  • Article
    Closed‐loop one‐way‐travel‐time navigation using low‐grade odometry for autonomous underwater vehicles
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2017-09-07) Claus, Brian ; Kepper, James ; Suman, Stefano ; Kinsey, James C.
    This paper extends the progress of single beacon one‐way‐travel‐time (OWTT) range measurements for constraining XY position for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV). Traditional navigation algorithms have used OWTT measurements to constrain an inertial navigation system aided by a Doppler Velocity Log (DVL). These methodologies limit AUV applications to where DVL bottom‐lock is available as well as the necessity for expensive strap‐down sensors, such as the DVL. Thus, deep water, mid‐water column research has mostly been left untouched, and vehicles that need expensive strap‐down sensors restrict the possibility of using multiple AUVs to explore a certain area. This work presents a solution for accurate navigation and localization using a vehicle's odometry determined by its dynamic model velocity and constrained by OWTT range measurements from a topside source beacon as well as other AUVs operating in proximity. We present a comparison of two navigation algorithms: an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and a Particle Filter(PF). Both of these algorithms also incorporate a water velocity bias estimator that further enhances the navigation accuracy and localization. Closed‐loop online field results on local waters as well as a real‐time implementation of two days field trials operating in Monterey Bay, California during the Keck Institute for Space Studies oceanographic research project prove the accuracy of this methodology with a root mean square error on the order of tens of meters compared to GPS position over a distance traveled of multiple kilometers.
  • Article
    Influence of ice thickness and surface properties on light transmission through Arctic sea ice
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2015-09-04) Katlein, Christian ; Arndt, Stefanie ; Nicolaus, Marcel ; Perovich, Donald K. ; Jakuba, Michael V. ; Suman, Stefano ; Elliott, Stephen M. ; Whitcomb, Louis L. ; McFarland, Christopher J. ; Gerdes, Rudiger ; Boetius, Antje ; German, Christopher R.
    The observed changes in physical properties of sea ice such as decreased thickness and increased melt pond cover severely impact the energy budget of Arctic sea ice. Increased light transmission leads to increased deposition of solar energy in the upper ocean and thus plays a crucial role for amount and timing of sea-ice-melt and under-ice primary production. Recent developments in underwater technology provide new opportunities to study light transmission below the largely inaccessible underside of sea ice. We measured spectral under-ice radiance and irradiance using the new Nereid Under-Ice (NUI) underwater robotic vehicle, during a cruise of the R/V Polarstern to 83°N 6°W in the Arctic Ocean in July 2014. NUI is a next generation hybrid remotely operated vehicle (H-ROV) designed for both remotely piloted and autonomous surveys underneath land-fast and moving sea ice. Here we present results from one of the first comprehensive scientific dives of NUI employing its interdisciplinary sensor suite. We combine under-ice optical measurements with three dimensional under-ice topography (multibeam sonar) and aerial images of the surface conditions. We investigate the influence of spatially varying ice-thickness and surface properties on the spatial variability of light transmittance during summer. Our results show that surface properties such as melt ponds dominate the spatial distribution of the under-ice light field on small scales (<1000 m2), while sea ice-thickness is the most important predictor for light transmission on larger scales. In addition, we propose the use of an algorithm to obtain histograms of light transmission from distributions of sea ice thickness and surface albedo.
  • Article
    Volcanically hosted venting with indications of ultramafic influence at Aurora hydrothermal field on Gakkel Ridge
    (Nature Communications, 2022-10-31) German, Christopher R ; Reeves, Eoghan P ; Türke, Andreas ; Diehl, Alexander ; Albers, Elmar ; Bach, Wolfgang ; Purser, Autun ; Ramalho, Sofia P ; Suman, Stefano ; Mertens, Christian ; Walter, Maren ; Ramirez-Llodra, Eva ; Schlindwein, Vera ; Bünz, Stefan ; Boetius, Antje
    The Aurora hydrothermal system, Arctic Ocean, hosts active submarine venting within an extensive field of relict mineral deposits. Here we show the site is associated with a neovolcanic mound located within the Gakkel Ridge rift-valley floor, but deep-tow camera and sidescan surveys reveal the site to be ≥100 m across-unusually large for a volcanically hosted vent on a slow-spreading ridge and more comparable to tectonically hosted systems that require large time-integrated heat-fluxes to form. The hydrothermal plume emanating from Aurora exhibits much higher dissolved CH/Mn values than typical basalt-hosted hydrothermal systems and, instead, closely resembles those of high-temperature ultramafic-influenced vents at slow-spreading ridges. We hypothesize that deep-penetrating fluid circulation may have sustained the prolonged venting evident at the Aurora hydrothermal field with a hydrothermal convection cell that can access ultramafic lithologies underlying anomalously thin ocean crust at this ultraslow spreading ridge setting. Our findings have implications for ultra-slow ridge cooling, global marine mineral distributions, and the diversity of geologic settings that can host abiotic organic synthesis - pertinent to the search for life beyond Earth.