Slocum underwater glider acoustic capabilities improvement by wings re-design

In order to improve persistence and acoustic capabilities of a Slocum underwater glider, the wings have been re-designed and a linear array of eight elements has been placed along their leading edges. In this configuration the lift/drag ratio has increased by about 15-20% with an angle of attack (AoA) of 4° with respect to the original wing configuration. The best directivity performances have been obtained for a sound signals frequency around 2 kHz. According to the literature review, this may be useful for cetaceans passive acoustic monitoring (PAM).