Abstract
Effective ocean management requires integrated and sustainable ocean observing systems enabling us to map and understand ecosystem properties and the effects of human activities. Autonomous subsurface and surface vehicles, here collectively referred to as “gliders”, are part of such ocean observing systems providing high spatiotemporal resolution. In this paper, we present some of the results achieved through the project “Unmanned ocean vehicles, a flexible and cost-efficient offshore monitoring and data management approach—GLIDER”. In this project, three autonomous surface and underwater vehicles were deployed along the Lofoten–Vesterålen (LoVe) shelf-slope-oceanic system, in Arctic Norway. The aim of this effort was to test whether gliders equipped with novel sensors could effectively perform ecosystem surveys by recording physical, biogeochemical, and biological data simultaneously. From March to September 2018, a period of high biological activity in the area, the gliders were able to record a set of environmental parameters, including temperature, salinity, and oxygen, map the spatiotemporal distribution of zooplankton, and record cetacean vocalizations and anthropogenic noise. A subset of these parameters was effectively employed in near-real-time data assimilative ocean circulation models, improving their local predictive skills. The results presented here demonstrate that autonomous gliders can be effective long-term, remote, noninvasive ecosystem monitoring and research platforms capable of operating in high-latitude marine ecosystems. Accordingly, these platforms can record high-quality baseline environmental data in areas where extractive activities are planned and provide much-needed information for operational and management purposes.
Highlights
Oceans cover up to 71% of the earth’s surface, regulate the global climate system, supply more than half the biosphere’s oxygen, and sustain the livelihood of billions of people worldwide [1,2,3,4,5,6]
NIVA servers monitor the Kognifai database time series and autoAll data were uploaded into the GLIDER data management platform where scientists could matically perform quality control (QC) services
Discussion paper, we presented results fromproject the GLIDER
Summary
Oceans cover up to 71% of the earth’s surface, regulate the global climate system, supply more than half the biosphere’s oxygen, and sustain the livelihood of billions of people worldwide [1,2,3,4,5,6]. There is a need to gain knowledge about the LoVe ecosystem to develop appropriate management approaches to ensure environmental quality, business sustainability [12,21], and good governance Building this knowledge requires additional and persistent data collection that cannot rely solely on sampling by traditional vessels due to practical and economic reasons. We present the project concept and review some of the initial results achieved after a six-month deployment along the LoVe shelf-slope These findings, initially presented at the OCEAN 2019 conference (Marseille, 17–20 June) [21] are expanded here and demonstrate the cost-efficient, long-term, low invasive, and autonomous monitoring and research capabilities of gliders in collecting high-quality environmental and biological data simultaneously. Gliders and other autonomous robotic seafloor infrastructure offer unique ecosystem monitoring capabilities for the LoVe region
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