APEX Standard Profiling Floats provide a mature platform for sustained oceanographic data collection across global deployments. Designed for autonomous vertical profiling, the system supports large-scale observing programs with established reliability in open-ocean conditions. The architecture enables flexible deployment options while maintaining consistency in long-duration sampling missions.
Built by Teledyne Webb Research (TWR), the APEX platform integrates configurable telemetry, adaptive mission control, and in-situ programmability to support evolving research requirements. With a strong operational history in global observing networks, the system is engineered for repeatable performance across diverse marine environments, including ice-adjacent and open-ocean regions.
| Hull: | Aluminum (maximum depth: 2000m) Carbon Fiber (maximum depth: 2000m) Glass Sphere (maximum depth: 6000m) |
| Controller: | APF-11 |
| Key Features: | Ice avoidance; mission sequencing; adaptable sampling behaviors; in-situ mission updates; in-situ sensor sampling adjustment |
| Strobe: | Optional |
| Communications/Telemetry: | Iridium circuit-switched/RUDICS (standard), Iridium SBD (optional) |
| Energy: | Alkaline batteries (optional), lithium primary non-rechargeable (standard) |
| Configuration Options: | Air deployable; VOS package; ice avoidance; surface temperature; equatorial compensator; handles; shipping crates; molded crates |
| Sensors: | CTD (Sea-Bird SBE-61, RBR Legato) |
