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Autonomous drifting robotic survives underneath East Antarctic ice shelf to take first-of-its-kind measurements | Envirotec

Source link : https://tech365.info/autonomous-drifting-robotic-survives-underneath-east-antarctic-ice-shelf-to-take-first-of-its-kind-measurements-envirotec/

Aerial view of the Denman Glacier (picture credit score: Pete Harmsen, AAD)

A robotic float has been used to measure the temperature and salinity inside a hitherto mysterious realm of the ocean, beneath large floating ice cabinets in East Antarctica.

This type of Argo float – a free-drifting, torpedo-shaped autonomous robotic – is often used within the open ocean, the place it is ready to floor commonly and transmit information. These autos are additionally not geared up to steer, as a substitute drifting passively apart from vertical motion. On this case, a particular ice-capable Argo float was used.

It has drifted underneath ths ice for two-and-a-half years, geared up with oceanographic sensors and has collected practically 200 profiles of the ocean on a 300-kilometre journey underneath the Denman and Shackleton ice cabinets. The info haul consists of the first-ever ocean transect beneath an East Antarctic ice shelf.

The Argo float (picture credit score: Pete Harmsen, AAD).

“We got lucky,” mentioned oceanographer Dr Steve Rintoul from CSIRO, Australia’s nationwide science company, and one of many authors of the research.1 CSIRO partnered with the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership on the College of Tasmania.

“Our intrepid float drifted beneath the ice and spent eight months underneath the Denman and Shackleton ice cabinets, amassing profiles from the seafloor to the bottom of the ice each 5 days.

“These unprecedented observations provide…

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Author : tech365

Publish date : 2025-12-11 10:46:00

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