ROBEX - innovative robotic technologies for ocean observations, a deep-sea demonstration mission

Abstract

Innovative robotic technologies are a key to study ocean processes in space and time. The work carried out during the ROBEX-Demonstration Mission on RV Polarstern will test the capability of new and innovative technologies, developed during the HGF Alliance ROBEX, in deep-sea environments. Investigations will include Arctic benthic and pelagic ecosystems strongly influenced by climate change, such as marine arctic sediments hosting gas hydrates and arctic deep-sea benthic communities. Different robotic platforms, including 3 types of crawler, glider, AUV, UAVs and senor systems (like Lab-on-a-Chip and multi-O <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> -profiler) are described and mission scenarios presented. The use of these new underwater technologies will improve our capabilities to improve our knowledge on the effects of climate change on the Arctic ecosystem and ocean observation.