Two research projects, led by Dr Russell Wynn, head of Marine Geoscience at UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and a coordinator of the UK Marine Environmental Mapping Programme (MAREMAP), have received funding in the amount of GBP 720,000 (1.1 million USD), Hydro International news portal writes.
The projects in question, contracted by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), are aimed at investigating the use of robot submarines to map and monitor the seas surrounding the UK.
Triggered by the desire to collect data necessary for the future government policy on ecology, primarily focusing on protection of the marine environment, the project implementation will concentrate on the use and capabilities of the country’s autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and sea glider fleet.
The primary goal of the first project, entitled ‘Investigating the feasibility of utilising AUV and glider technology for mapping and monitoring of the UK MPA network’, is to review the capacity and capabilities of the UK AUV and the manners in which the information gathered with these instruments can be used to support mapping and monitoring of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). It runs from March to September 2013.
‘Novel AUV and glider deployments to inform future MPA and MSFD monitoring strategy in UK shelf waters’ is the second project and it is scheduled to begin in late 2012, with the fieldwork being conducted throughout 2013 and 2014.
It will pave the way for the innovative science undertaken within NERC National Capability and Research Programmes to have maximum impact for policy drivers such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
[mappress] Subsea World News Staff , July 16, 2012