A fleet of 100 robotic submarines could in five years鈥� time be roaming the vast unexplored stretches of the world鈥檚 seafloors and helping unlock their mysteries.
The plan was unveiled by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration at the Oceans 2006 conference in Boston last week. 鈥淭he pace of exploration in the ocean is going a little too slowly,鈥� says Reginald Beach of NOAA鈥檚 Office of Ocean Exploration in Silver Spring, Maryland. Only 5 per cent of the ocean floor has been explored in detail, he says, which means there may be numerous new species and geothermal processes waiting to be discovered.
So NOAA wants to spearhead an industrial and academic collaboration that will see a fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) developed and deployed, fanning out across the globe on disparate missions. AUVs only recently became a viable prospect, thanks to the development of much longer-lasting batteries and more power-efficient sensors.
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NOAA鈥檚 planned fleet would consist of two types of robot. One is a traditional torpedo-shaped AUV like the Autosub created in 2001 in the UK at the University of Southampton. These would take pictures, or map ocean floors using sonar. But even under optimal conditions their batteries only last a few days, so another type of sub called a glider will do the longer-term work. These can stay submerged for up to a month at a time thanks to a low-power propulsion system based on bladders that inflate and deflate, causing buoyancy cycles that generate motion (快猫短视频, 17 July 1999, p 16).
The gliders will provide continuous readings of the ocean floor鈥檚 temperature, salinity and chemical composition. Longer-lasting power sources such as the artificial gill (see Plankton could power robotic submarines) might also be used in the future to power longer-term missions.
A large fleet of UAVs could 鈥渇ly鈥� over the entire length of the mid-ocean ridges 鈥� some 50,000 kilometres 鈥� in just six months. They might uncover new underwater volcanoes, or seamounts, which teem with life. 鈥淛ust about everywhere you go, you find some new species,鈥� Beach says. The conditions that lead to toxic algal blooms might also be revealed.
