|
|
|
|
Robots
Wed Apr 06, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
They bob on the surface of the ocean, scanning everything around them. Then they
sink into the depths, only to rise back to the top a few days later. What are these
strange creatures, and what do they have to do with the weather? Technically, they're
calling profiling floats, but reporters like to refer to them as oceanic robots.
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook.
Right now about 300 of these robotic cylinders are drifting across the ocean. In just a
few years there will be ten times that number. The idea is to measure the ocean--its
temperature, salt content, and flow patterns--just as we now measure the atmosphere
through weather balloons.
Each of these bright yellow, battery-operated robots stands about chest-high. They sink
to a depth of more than 6000 feet, then stay there for about 10 days. At that point they
quickly rise to the surface and send their data via satellite to a central processing
facility. Then the robots are ready for another 10-day dive.
How might this affect your weather and climate outlook? Computer models should be
able to perform more accurately when they have better data on where ocean currents
are going.
Right now we can warn people about a Niņo or Niņa once it's getting started, but
advance forecasts are still difficult. That's partially because we have good undersea
data for only a few small slices of the Pacific. Thanks to the new diving robots, we'll be
able to monitor a much bigger chunk of the ocean. That should help us keep better
tabs on El Niņo and La Niņa long before they give us any trouble.
Thanks today to writer Bob Henson of Boulder, Colorado. The Weather Notebook is a
production of the Mount Washington Observatory. It is supported by the National
Science Foundation and Subaru.
Today's Links
More Information
http://www.marine.csiro.au/LeafletsFolder/49float/49float.html
|
|
