(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-12-18)
Szwaykowska, Klementyna; Zhang, Fumin
This paper establishes the method of controlled Lagrangian particle tracking (CLPT) to analyse the
offsets between physical positions of marine robots in the ocean and simulated positions of controlled
particles in an ocean model. The offset, which we term the CLPT error, demonstrates distinguished
characteristics not previously seen in drifters and floats that cannot be actively controlled. The CLPT
error growth over time is exponential until it reaches a turning point that only depends on the resolution
of the ocean model. After this turning point, the error growth slows down significantly to polynomial
functions of time. In the ideal case, a theoretical upper threshold on exponential growth of CLPT
error can be derived. These characteristics are proved theoretically, verified via simulation, and justified
with ocean experimental data. The method of CLPT may be applied to improve the accuracy of ocean
circulation models and the performance of navigation algorithms for marine robots.