Met Office, which is responsible for the severe weather warning network, has recently relocated to the center to share their marine observing expertise. The Underwater Systems Laboratory (USL) develops sensors and platforms for marine science. The lab is developing and testing biogeochemical sensors such as a novel 'lab on a chip' that can analyze the plankton in seawater. The USL is also developing equipment such as the FerryBox for use on commercial 'ships of opportunity'. FerryBox can record data and relay it back to scientists in Southampton using telemetry. FerryBox has been installed on the ferry Pride of Bilbao, which operates between Portsmouth and Bilbao in Spain, and on the Swire cargo ship MV Pacific Celebes, which travels the globe. With NERC funding, the USL team have developed the Autosub series of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Autosub is the only vehicle to have explored under the Antarctic Ice. The latest in the series is Autosub6000 designed to work at water depths of 6,000 m. With an ultimate range up to 1,000 km, it will be one of the world's most capable deep diving science AUVs. Autosub6000 completed deep-water trials in September 2007, and in 2008 successfully completed its first science mission. This formed part of a research expedition investigating potential threats from tsunamis, giant landslides and earthquakes to coastal communities along the west European margin. Released from RRS James Cook, Autosub6000 was sent almost three miles below the surface to investigate a submarine canyon north of the Canary Islands. The robot submarine executed a 'lawnmower survey', flying 100 metres above seabed, while surveying the 16-sq.-km area in 200-m-wide strips with its high-resolution multibeam echosounder. It provided scientists with spectacular 3-D images showing huge holes in the seafloor formed by giant submarine flows that ripped up seafloor sediment and carried it up to 1,000 km further offshore. Principle Scientist Dr Russell Wynn said, "This new technology is allowing us to image the seafloor in unprecedented detail, and is providing valuable information about the huge scale and immense power of these giant submarine flows." Since the development of Autosub by the center in the 1990s, there have been great strides in the development of AUVs. Underwater gliders are set to become among the most widely used of these. Gliders are propelled by changing their volume and hence their buoyancy. This is done by pumping oil from an inner reservoir in to an expanding external bladder to make the glider rise, and letting the oil flow back into the reservoir at the surface to make
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Top The glider team, with gliders. Middle Autosub being deployed. Bottom RRS James Cook with National Oceanography Centre, Southampton in the background.
(All images courtesy of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.)
Marine Technology Reporter 43
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