Autonomous Drones Trace Ocean Snow to Measure Carbon Pathways
TL;DR
MBARI deployed two 242.5-pound autonomous underwater vehicles to move ahead of a research ship, following a drifting sediment trap by acoustic beacon and photographing the upper 656 feet of water as the trap collects sinking marine snow, a setup aimed at linking surface plankton blooms to deep-sea carbon export and improving climate models during El Niño.
Topics:technologyscience#autonomous-underwater-vehicles#carbon-cycle#el-nino#marine-snow#oceanography#science
- Two 242.5-pound drones drove themselves out to a mooring off California ahead of a research ship to follow a drifting trap by the sound of its beacon and photograph the top 656 feet of ocean while the trap catches the dead plankton sinking below it Autonocion.com
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