Way back when I was a PhD student one of the big fusses in oceanographic circles was an autonomous instrument platform that was under development called Autosub. Autosub is a fairly large autonomous submarine capable of powering its way through the oceans whilst carrying a payload of oceanographic instrumentation. Everyone was excited about the possibilities that Autosub would provide but it was some time before the plans came fully to fruition (the first science missions were carried out in 1998).
Without wishing to do anyone a dis-service, the story that I heard was that the original calculations of the weight of the required battery packs were wrong and so when the first attempts to build Autosub took place it was impossible to get the whole package to float… only when battery technology had advanced several steps was Autosub able to get back on track. I’ve no idea whether this story is true, but if it isn’t it should be because it is a much better excuse than simply saying that these things take time. Anyway, following six science mission campaigns funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council, Autosub moved onto its full-on wow-factor missions, Autosub-Under-Ice although an Autosub did become trapped beneath Antarctica on only its second mission under ice mission. There is a BBC Radio 4 “The Material World” programme on Autosub that was broadcast just before this incident.
More recently, there have been a number of other developments using autonomous underwater vehicles to measure oceanographic parameters. One such involves a trio of robot gliders that are being used to profile the top 1000m of the Atlantic Ocean between the Canary Islands and west Africa. The measurements are being made as part of the Rapid-WATCH programme (Rapid Climate Change – Will the Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation Halt?) and help to fill gaps in data coverage that resulted from traditional moorings being damaged by trawlers. The gliders, which are under 2m long use a pair of floatation bladders within which oil is pumped to vary the buoyancy and thus cause upward or downward movement of the glider. There are also now plans to use the gliders in the waters off Antarctica and also for a new generation of gliders, so it seems as though the early work, and the excitement this generated back in the late 1980s and early 1990s is finally paying off. There is a New Scientist article (Issue 2684, 29 November 2009) on the gliders being used within the Rapid-WATCH programme.
Tim O'Hare 