Robotic Science Network Watches Our Oceans 87
Roland Piquepaille writes "I bet most of you have never heard about Argo, an ambitious scientific project about the observation of our oceans. This project is endorsed by 18 countries and just reached a milestone: there are today more than 1,500 robotic floats reporting about salinity changes or predicting El Niño events, among other ones. This news release from the University of California at San Diego says that the Argo floats, which are autonomous ocean-traveling robots programmed to sink more than a mile below the ocean surface, are helping scientists all over the world to look at the future of our whole planet. And in 2007, when the deployment is completed, 3,000 underwater robots will help us to better understand the changes in our climate. You'll find more details, pictures and references in this overview."
Re:The Day After Tomorrow (Score:1)
Re:The Day After Tomorrow (Score:1)
Been years since I saw it and just missed it on one of the networks a few months ago.
Privacy Invasion! (Score:3, Funny)
Too Few? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Too Few? (Score:2, Insightful)
1) Better than what they had before
2) Cost effective.
More probes may provide better results, but I think right now they are looking for the big picture. If they find something interesting from the data, they can then populate interesting areas with more probes.
I wonder what the environmentalists think about more of the probe wreckages being spread all over the oceans.
Re:Privacy Invasion! (Score:2)
Re:Privacy Invasion! (Score:1)
Monitor our oceans? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Monitor our oceans? (Score:1)
Coming soon... (Score:4, Funny)
Land based weather 'robots' (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Land based weather 'robots' (Score:4, Interesting)
If the graph is to believed there are nearly zero probes in the circular current in the Southern Hemisphere roaring sixties, there also very few probes in the other major current systems - Gulfstream, along N and S America West Coast, Azora, etc. At the same time there are plenty of probes which are sitting in relatively silent regions like 30-40 latt in the middle of the Pacific (north and south).
I hope they put the remaining 1500 into the major current systems as these are the places that determine the weather around the globe. It will be more expensive to maintain as you have to salvage them quite often and relocate to the beginning of the current, but hopefully the data collected will pay back for the excessive maintenance costs.
Re:Land based weather 'robots' (Score:1)
Uuh... (Score:2)
I think it just might be you that did not wach "The day after tomorrow" with its weather and saline bouys.
Re:Uuh... (Score:5, Funny)
I wish I *didn't* watch it .
Re:Uuh... (Score:1)
Re:Uuh... (Score:3, Interesting)
Unfortunately I did see it (and hence paid money towards the producers and screen writers). What I remember was that the guy next to me was complaining that the bouy id'ents were wrong for the Grand Banks and the "normal" Gulf Stream was moving backwards. Not to mention the physics problems with the rate of freezing mentioned (ending up at/below absolute zero in a few minutes).
I've haven't seen a Arg
Hmmm... (Score:2, Interesting)
This is that bastard organisation that predicted that global warming would actually make the UK colder..
Re:Hmmm... (Score:2)
Re:Hmmm... (Score:1)
argos animation (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:argos animation (Score:2, Informative)
2.6MB coralized link.
Slashdot this! Re:argos animation (Score:2)
I may regret this later, but...
Argo Robotic Instrument Network Now Covers Most of the Globe [ioerror.us] (2.6MB, QuickTime) (my mirror)
Re:Slashdot this! Re:argos animation (Score:2)
East Coast Mirror @ WHOI [whoi.edu]
W won't listen anyway (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:W won't listen anyway (Score:1)
Re:W won't listen anyway (Score:2)
Sorry, not all of us want to end human civ (Score:1)
The alternatives you guys have is to take us back to the good old days w
Re:Sorry, not all of us want to end human civ (Score:2)
A plague upon BOTH of your houses! Two completely different parties that want the same thing: living peacefully and happily. Yet neither recognizes the good in the other, instead resorting to labeling the other as extreme.
The reference to Gaia and animal skins speaks profoundly of the understanding you have of your opponent - rather, the lack of understanding or acceptance. There are some very good ideas on both sides of this fence - don't dismiss one just becaus
Re:Don't we already know the future? (Score:1)
Re:Don't we already know the future? (Score:1)
Re:Don't we already know the future? (Score:1)
Re:Don't we already know the future? (Score:1)
Argo floats.. or does it? (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, yeah, that makes sense.
Re:Argo floats.. or does it? (Score:1)
Re:Argo floats.. or does it? (Score:1)
Re:Argo floats.. or does it? (Score:2)
Tainted Results (Score:1)
Re:Tainted Results (Score:1)
Assume these 'bots heat up the ocean a bit because their putting out 2 Watts on average (which I'm guessing is way to much for them to last one month, but lets be conservative), then when they get the fleet up to 3000 you'd have 6000 Watts being dumped into the ocean.
On the surface of the earth, the sun gives off about 1350 Watts of energy per square meter. So to counteract the effect of the heat pollution from the Argo fleet, you'd just have to st
Re:Tainted Results (Score:1)
Unsolved Mysteries (Score:1, Interesting)
Coincidence, I think not, conspiracy, yes please.
Argo project home page (Score:5, Informative)
Fools (Score:2)
Re:Fools (Score:1)
Cool! Are they armed? (Score:3, Funny)
I hope they have some kind of weapon to kill the sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads...
Re:well.... (Score:1)
groklaw ?? (Score:2)
Roland Piquepaille (Score:2, Interesting)
Some Better Links (Score:5, Informative)
The US Global Data Center [usgodae.org] for the Argo project.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst. Argo page. This includes links to [whoi.edu] data profiles [whoi.edu] and other info.
WHOI's realtime data grapher [whoi.edu] allows you to see where the floats are, where they have been, find a float in any region WHOI monitors, etc.
Also check out the Argo Information Center [jcommops.org] and their Global Float Map [jcommops.org]. (The WHOI one tends to be faster if you are only interested in the Atlantic)
About time... (Score:1)
All right, you try to come up with something more obscure and geekier.
Another bouy network (Score:2)
Re:Another bouy network (Score:1)
WHAT?! (Score:2, Funny)
Obligatory (Score:2)
Anyone port Linux to these things yet?