Robot to explore ice shelves

A robot submersible called Autosub will begin exploring waters beneath the thick polar ice shelves of Antarctica and Greenland in April.

Developed over the past 10 years by the Southampton Oceanography Centre, southern England, the battery-powered Autosub will travel independently up to eight days with a range of 1,000 kilometres (about 620 miles) and diving depth of 1,600 metres.

Working autonomously to pre-programmed instructions from its host vessel, the research ship James Clark Ross, the submersible - costing 5.8 million pounds sterling - will explore waters under the ice shelves that are several hundred metres thick.

Hitherto, the Arctic waters have been incapable of being reached by divers or crewed research vessels. Autosub is equipped with sonar navigation to monitor its speed, depth and direction.

The sonar system allows the submersible to look up and down to observe both its own position and the thickness of the ice shelf above. A 120-megahertz echo sounder on its nose allows it to track underwater life initially beneath the Ronne ice shelf.

Autosub will study the abundance and distribution of krill, the crustaceans that provide food for many kinds of Antarctic marine life including whales. The submersible's onboard echo sounder can detect crustaceans including krill that are believed to be affected by global warming.

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