Autonomous underwater vehicles: future platforms for fisheries acoustics

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are unmanned submersibles that can be pre-programmed to navigate in three dimensions under water. The technological advances required for reliable deployment, mission control, performance, and recovery of AUVs have developed considerably over the past 10 years. Currently, there are several vehicles operating successfully in the offshore industries as well as in the applied and academic oceanographic sciences. This article reviews the application of AUVs to fisheries- and plankton-acoustics research. Specifications of the main AUVs currently in operation are given. Compared to traditional platforms for acoustic instruments, AUVs can sample previously impenetrable environments such as the sea surface, the deep sea, and under-sea ice. Furthermore, AUVs are typically small, quiet, and have the potential to operate at low cost and be unconstrained by the vagaries of weather. Examples of how these traits may be utilized in fisheries-acoustics science are given with reference to previous work in the North Sea and Southern Ocean and to potential future applications. Concurrent advances in multi-beam sonar technology and species identification, using multi-frequency and broadband sonars, will further enhance the utility of AUVs for fisheries acoustics. However, before many of the more prospective applications can be accomplished, advances in power-source technology are required to increase the range of operation. The paper ends by considering developments that may turn AUVs from objects sometimes perceived as science fiction into instruments used routinely to gather scientific fact

European source strengths and Northern Hemisphere baseline concentrations of radiatively active trace gases at Mace Head, Ireland

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Estimation of hydrogen deposition velocities from 1995-2008 at mace head, ireland using a simple box model and concurrent ozone depositions

During stable nocturnal inversions with low wind speeds, we observed strong depletions of both hydrogen and ozone caused by deposition to the peat bogs in the vicinity of the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. From these temporally correlated fluxes and using a simple box model, we have estimated the strength of the molecular hydrogen soil sink over a 14-yr period (1995-2008). Over this entire period 269 nocturnal deposition events were identified that satisfied the strict selection criteria. The average hydrogen deposition velocity determined from these events was 0.53 mm s-1, covering a range of 0.18-1.29 mm s-1, which is in agreement with the range of deposition velocities reported in the literature for similar peaty biomes. By annually averaging all of the nocturnal inversion events over the most seasonally active period from April-September we reveal a positive correlation with ambient temperature in the relative deposition velocities of hydrogen and ozone, which is not readily apparent in all of the individual events. Furthermore, average hydrogen deposition velocities and accumulated rainfall from 48 h before and during each event were to a reasonable extent anti-correlated. However, due to the large uncertainties in determining monthly mean H(2) deposition velocities there is no statistically significant trend in the hydrogen deposition velocities over time

Estimation of hydrogen deposition velocities from 1995-2008 at mace head, ireland using a simple box model and concurrent ozone depositions

During stable nocturnal inversions with low wind speeds, we observed strong depletions of both hydrogen and ozone caused by deposition to the peat bogs in the vicinity of the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. From these temporally correlated fluxes and using a simple box model, we have estimated the strength of the molecular hydrogen soil sink over a 14-yr period (1995-2008). Over this entire period 269 nocturnal deposition events were identified that satisfied the strict selection criteria. The average hydrogen deposition velocity determined from these events was 0.53 mm s-1, covering a range of 0.18-1.29 mm s-1, which is in agreement with the range of deposition velocities reported in the literature for similar peaty biomes. By annually averaging all of the nocturnal inversion events over the most seasonally active period from April-September we reveal a positive correlation with ambient temperature in the relative deposition velocities of hydrogen and ozone, which is not readily apparent in all of the individual events. Furthermore, average hydrogen deposition velocities and accumulated rainfall from 48 h before and during each event were to a reasonable extent anti-correlated. However, due to the large uncertainties in determining monthly mean H(2) deposition velocities there is no statistically significant trend in the hydrogen deposition velocities over time