A new generation of ocean robots is set to improve weather forecasts and support the fight against global climate challenges.
Through an international initiative called SUN Fleet, researchers are now deploying unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) that can sail autonomously for months at a time, powered by renewable energy. The project, recently launched with support from UNESCO, brings together scientists, government agencies, and industry partners from over 40 countries. It was introduced in a research article led by oceanographer Dr. Ruth Patterson and published in Frontiers.
From Norway, Lars Robert Hole, senior researcher at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET), is among the contributors. He has worked with the Norwegian-developed Sailbuoy, an autonomous sailing buoy designed by Offshore Sensing in Bergen. The Sailbuoy is about two meters long and has proven its capabilities in previous projects measuring wind, waves, ocean currents, salinity, and temperature.
“The main advantage of these ocean robots is that they use renewable energy and can operate in extreme environments for months without human intervention,” says Hole. (source: https://www.met.no/nyhetsarkiv/forskere-sender-roboter-til-havs)
Gathering Data from Previously Inaccessible Areas
The oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, yet data gaps in these areas have made accurate weather and climate forecasting a challenge. With technologies like the Sailbuoy, researchers can now collect data from remote and previously inaccessible locations and feed them directly into data models.
Read the full article from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute here (article in Norwegian).
