Dr. Sen
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CHENNAI: India has started undersea exploration of an unexplored region in northern Antarctica by a polar remotely operated vehicle (PROVe) developed by Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).
The vehicle underwent a two-month trial in Priyadarshini, a freshwater lake in the Schirmacher oasis (an ice-free plateau) which is a source of water for Maitri, India's second permanent base in the continent. The underwater vehicle, which has a capacity to go up to a depth of 200m, has been deployed in the ocean at a depth of 62m with the help of a ship chartered from Russia.
It is now near an ice shelf, which connects the coastline to the landmass, located about 1,000km from Maitri. While more than 30 countries have been conducting research in the icy continent, officials at NIOT said none has conducted studies in the region where India is working. "Even the US has gone only to the other side of the Antarctic," said director of NIOT, M A Atmanand.
PROVe has been fitted with sensors to measure various parameters including temperature, conductivity, depth and dissolved oxygen. Apart from cameras, the vehicle has sonar (a meter that measures light penetration), water sampler and bottom corer to collect samples from the seabed. Scientists involved in the project said they would also study the flora and fauna in the ocean and measure the thickness of the ice shelf and other floating ice called ice floes. An ice corer will be used to collect samples of ice which could be millions of years old.
The obtained data is being analysed. The expedition, conducted in co-ordination with the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), will be on till April this year. Union minister for science and technology and earth sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan, who visited NIOT on Wednesday, said PROVe and its subsequent versions will help understand the polar influence on ocean currents affecting the movement of monsoon winds.
While the exploration is in full swing, scientists said the real challenge is to work under unpredictable weather conditions. Summer in Antarctica is from October to February. "But the water began freezing three days after the team reached there in February," a scientist said. "The wind speeds are high during summer, and it gets worse during winter. Despite the odds, we were able to test the vehicle in the lake, which is now deployed in the ocean," he added. Scientists said that a similar PROVe will be deployed for exploration in the Arctic region later this year.
India begins Antarctic probe with Chennai-made ROV - The Times of India
The vehicle underwent a two-month trial in Priyadarshini, a freshwater lake in the Schirmacher oasis (an ice-free plateau) which is a source of water for Maitri, India's second permanent base in the continent. The underwater vehicle, which has a capacity to go up to a depth of 200m, has been deployed in the ocean at a depth of 62m with the help of a ship chartered from Russia.
It is now near an ice shelf, which connects the coastline to the landmass, located about 1,000km from Maitri. While more than 30 countries have been conducting research in the icy continent, officials at NIOT said none has conducted studies in the region where India is working. "Even the US has gone only to the other side of the Antarctic," said director of NIOT, M A Atmanand.
PROVe has been fitted with sensors to measure various parameters including temperature, conductivity, depth and dissolved oxygen. Apart from cameras, the vehicle has sonar (a meter that measures light penetration), water sampler and bottom corer to collect samples from the seabed. Scientists involved in the project said they would also study the flora and fauna in the ocean and measure the thickness of the ice shelf and other floating ice called ice floes. An ice corer will be used to collect samples of ice which could be millions of years old.
The obtained data is being analysed. The expedition, conducted in co-ordination with the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), will be on till April this year. Union minister for science and technology and earth sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan, who visited NIOT on Wednesday, said PROVe and its subsequent versions will help understand the polar influence on ocean currents affecting the movement of monsoon winds.
While the exploration is in full swing, scientists said the real challenge is to work under unpredictable weather conditions. Summer in Antarctica is from October to February. "But the water began freezing three days after the team reached there in February," a scientist said. "The wind speeds are high during summer, and it gets worse during winter. Despite the odds, we were able to test the vehicle in the lake, which is now deployed in the ocean," he added. Scientists said that a similar PROVe will be deployed for exploration in the Arctic region later this year.
India begins Antarctic probe with Chennai-made ROV - The Times of India
