Robotic floats, called “BioArgos,” will for the first time measure the dissolved oxygen, nitrate, chlorophyll, organic matter and particles between Australia's Christmas Island and Madagascar, the CSIRO announced on Friday.
Despite the importance of the Indian Ocean for the fisheries resources, shipping and livelihoods of the large populations around its rim, CSIRO project leader Dr. Nick Hardman-Mountford said that relatively little is known about the depths and biological health of the system.
"The East Indian Ocean alone brings in catches of seven million tons of fish per year," Hardman-Mountford said.
Four of the bio-robots, each worth up to 100,000 Australian dollars (about US$77,000), are being dropped into masses of spinning water, known as eddies, which will then travel up to 2, 000 meters below the surface, drifting with the current.
Changes in the chemistry and biology of the marine ecosystems will then be measured before rising to the surface to transmit the data to researchers via a satellite in real time, building up a three dimensional picture of the Indian Ocean.
Hardman-Mountford said the robots will enable researchers to understand the growth of plankton and how much carbon gets absorbed, used up the food chain and how much gets buried.
By Ruchi Singh
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
