Project Grant 2627307

The National Science Foundation Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems awarded Northeastern University $348,826 on October 1, 2026, for collaborative research on energy-aware deployment and scheduling for sparse ocean sensor networks under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041).

The project develops mathematical tools and optimization strategies to improve how drifting ocean sensors are deployed and operated. Rather than using rule-of-thumb placement and reporting schedules that waste energy in some regions while missing critical activity elsewhere, the research models a fleet of drifters as a dynamic, time-evolving similarity graph—treating each sensor as a node with connections reflecting how similarly two drifters move. Graph Laplacian mathematics encode the ocean's key transport structures such as eddies and jets, along with resulting transport pathways and barriers. The project addresses three central challenges: developing optimal deployment strategies to recover transport structures within fixed budgets while accounting for sensor losses and transmission gaps; controlling transmission schedules to balance scientific accuracy against tight energy constraints; and managing uncertainty in ocean dynamics and sensor performance.

Work is performed in Boston, Massachusetts, through September 30, 2029. Deliverables include new theory linking network science, control engineering, and ocean physics with provable guarantees that scientific accuracy is preserved under energy budgets; open-source software; publicly available course materials; and training of students across engineering and oceanography. Broader impacts target improved oil-spill and search-and-rescue response and longer, more efficient climate observation records.