GeoLog

Imaggeo on Mondays: Robotics at the service of the polar science

Imaggeo on Mondays: Robotics at the service of the polar science

This picture was taken in the Arctic in May 2018. It shows the unmanned marine vehicle Proteus in front of the tidewater glacier Conwaybreen in the Kongsfjorden in Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago. The front of tidewater glaciers is an almost vertical wall of ice standing over the sea where direct measurements are very critical due to the possibility of sudden fall of enormous blocks of ice. For this reason there is a lack of environmental data in this areas. The use of Proteus to collect data allowed to increase the understanding of phenomena related to the global climate change, especially ice melting.

PROTEUS was equipped with an autonomous water sampler and with two winches for the management of various sensors. One winch was used to release and recover a cluster of underwater sensors and the other to release and recover an air balloon carrying air quality sensors. With this solution it was possible to obtain a good characterization of the whole marine-air column in the proximity of tidewater glaciers.

Description by Angelo Odetti, as it first appeared on imaggeo.egu.eu.

Imaggeo is the EGU’s online open access geosciences image repository. All geoscientists (and others) can submit their photographs and videos to this repository and, since it is open access, these images can be used for free by scientists for their presentations or publications, by educators and the general public, and some images can even be used freely for commercial purposes. Photographers also retain full rights of use, as Imaggeo images are licensed and distributed by the EGU under a Creative Commons licence. Submit your photos at http://imaggeo.egu.eu/upload/.

This guest post was contributed by a scientist, student or a professional in the Earth, planetary or space sciences. The EGU blogs welcome guest contributions, so if you've got a great idea for a post or fancy trying your hand at science communication, please contact the blog editor or the EGU Communications Officer to pitch your idea.


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