Glide and Seek: Energy-Efficient, Minimal-Disturbance Underwater Data Muling with a Glider and Sensor Nodes

Coral reefs are among the most vital ecosystems on Earth, supporting over 25% of marine biodiversity and providing significant benefits to coastal communities. However, reefs are increasingly threatened by climate-induced coral bleaching. While it is widely understood that early detection of bleaching is crucial, current solutions are cost-prohibitive, environmentally intrusive, or inefficient in transmitting large datasets over long distances. Thus, we propose a robotic sensing system to continuously monitor coral health with three goals: (1) minimal environmental disturbance, (2) high-bandwidth data transmission, and (3) energy efficiency. We propose a novel communication system that uses multiple stationary sensor nodes and an underwater data mule to efficiently communicate large amounts of coral reef data from the ocean floor to a researcher's lab. First, multiple sensor nodes are deployed across a reef to continuously collect visual, temperature, and pH data, the primary indicators of coral health. Then, a buoyancy-propelled glider will act as a data mule to swim to each sensor node and retrieve its data using radio frequency (RF). Finally, the glider will swim back to land to deliver the data. This system would be a vital development in early coral bleaching detection, ensuring the health of not only our reefs but also our global ecosystem.