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Science Technology

Floating Computers Keep an Eye on the Oceans 86

Posted by samzenpus from the somewhere-upon-the-sea dept.
mightysquirrel81 writes "This fascinating picture story shows the tech behind the global Argo progamme set up to monitor the world's oceans. Using 3,000 floating computers and a network of satellites, researchers measure sea temperature and ocean currents to predict climate change."
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Floating Computers Keep an Eye on the Oceans More

Floating Computers Keep an Eye on the Oceans

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  • Can they *affect* the climate? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    In Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars [amazon.com] , the terraformer Sax Russell releases little wind-powered heaters all over the surface of the Red Planet in order to raise the temperature. Over the course of the novel, they end up heating the planet by about 1 degree Celcius. Would such a similar trick work on our planet, could global warming or cooling be tamed by the action of thousands of dispersed devices?

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by ozmanjusri ( 601766 )
      Would such a similar trick work on our planet

      No, and it wouldn't have worked on Mars either.

      The wind energy is already being conserved and eventually becomes heart.

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by sheriff_cahill ( 996608 )
      Even better, we could drop a massive block of ice in the ocean on a regular basis!
    • The reason that they worked was that the underground green movement (against the wishes of the red movement, which wanted the planet to be studied sterile) had clandestinely seeded each one with a cocktail of extremophile lichens, algaes, and photosynthesizers. They darkened the surface of the planet and began the chemical transformation that its atmosphere would need (particularly once they started burning the regolith), as well as fixing soil at the surface. They were preserved in little colonies situat

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by TheLink ( 130905 )
        "They poisoned the environment with life and justified further human ecoscaping"

        Terrarism by the evil eco-terrarists!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tambo ( 310170 )
      Would such a similar trick work on our planet, could global warming or cooling be tamed by the action of thousands of dispersed devices?

      They sure did in the Evan Chan game back in 2001. ;)

      (Synopsis: In this online game - an Alternate Reality Game that served as a marketing campaign for the movie A.I. - the scientists of the year 2142 created a network of thermoplankton capable of changing color from black to white, and that could be controlled by a satellite network. Despite the small size, these therm

    • Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by BlackPignouf ( 1017012 )
      Sure!

      Those dispersed devices are called "humans". And those actions are sometimes described as "stop taking planes", "don't buy this SUV", "put a jumper instead of heating your house to summer temperatures during winter", "don't eat too much meat", "move your ass and stop waiting for a technological miracle" or "understand that American/European way of life actually is negotiable".

      Anyway, you cannot produce "cool", except if you find a way to release excess heat outside of the atmosphere (e.g.: an open frid

  • Botnet? (Score:5, Funny)

    by dvs01 ( 1192659 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @10:35PM (#21443147)
    I wonder if those run linux. If not, how long before they become a botnet?

  • better idea (Score:1, Interesting)

    by ILuvRamen ( 1026668 )
    So why not look for Nessy aka the Loch Ness Monster with them as a test? Now THAT would be scientifically productive to me at least :D

  • Miscalibrated (Score:2, Insightful)

    by MightyMait ( 787428 )
    Were these the same floats that initially indicated that the oceans were *cooling* and not warming, but which were later recalibrated to report "accurate" temperature data?

    • Re:Miscalibrated (Score:5, Informative)

      by Ambitwistor ( 1041236 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @10:45PM (#21443211)

      Were these the same floats that initially indicated that the oceans were *cooling* and not warming, but which were later recalibrated to report "accurate" temperature data?
      Yes [agu.org].

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by letxa2000 ( 215841 )

      Were these the same floats that initially indicated that the oceans were *cooling* and not warming, but which were later recalibrated to report "accurate" temperature data?

      Hey, as long as keep accepting "heating" readings and keep rejecting or massaging "cooling" readings, we can keep up the global warming scam for at least another 5-10 years!

    • More importantly, how are they going to use this data to predict climate change without a long term dataset to compare it to? A few days ago, it was getting warmer each day, leading me to "believe" that summer was coming. Now it's suddenly gotten quite cold here, and I have to conclude that the next Ice Age is upon us.

      Of course, comparing it to the long term dataset in my memory, I now realize that we just had a bit of "Indian Summer" during our normal Autumn, and that Winter is soon to rear it's cold,

  • If they keep drifting around (Score:3, Interesting)

    by RuBLed ( 995686 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @10:42PM (#21443191)
    Wouldn't that mean they would wash up on shore sooner or later much like what happened to the rubber duckies spill incident? If so they would end up constantly replacing those things but they seem to be cheap to make though.

    • Re:If they keep drifting around (Score:5, Informative)

      by Ambitwistor ( 1041236 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @10:53PM (#21443243)
      Yes, they do wash up on shore (sometimes they're even found [whoi.edu]), and yes, they are continually replaced.

    • If so they would end up constantly replacing those things but they seem to be cheap to make though.

      From the article: "Each float weights 25kg and is 2 metres in height (including its aerial) and costs around £15,000 to operate over its lifetime." $30,000 doesn't seem too cheap for something that goes around washing up on the shore.

    • Re:If they keep drifting around (Score:5, Informative)

      by Freedryk ( 117435 ) on Thursday November 22, 2007 @02:17AM (#21444243)
      They drift at depths of 1-2km most of the time, and down there the ocean mostly moves along topography lines so the floats actually tend to float parallel to coasts. Some of them wash ashore, but much less than would occur if they were at the surface all the time.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by publicworker ( 701313 )
        Very true (I'd mod you up if I had points). More precisely an Argo float generally drifts at 2000m (2000db pressure actually) and then ascends every 10 days to take salinity and temperature profiles and send the data to a satellite. An Argo float lasts about 4 or 5 years after which I suppose the battery is drained and the float may sink or wash ashore.

        It's not a cheap undertaking, but the data is absolutely invaluable to oceanographers since it's damn near impossible to sample such a huge body using onl

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by presarioD ( 771260 )
        I wonder if they have a collection or recycling mechanism for the dead/mulfunctioning/washed-up ones, otherwise I can't help point out the irony that in the process of studying the environment (in order to be friendlier to it) you pollute the hell out of it. Are the gadgets biodegradable? Do they self-destruct into harmless, eco-friendly elements with a nice boom? (will make ordinary swimming experience fun beyond imagination...)... 800 Argo floats/year without collecting the old ones is at least irresponsi

        • I wonder if they have a collection or recycling mechanism for the dead/mulfunctioning/washed-up ones, otherwise I can't help point out the irony that in the process of studying the environment (in order to be friendlier to it) you pollute the hell out of it.

          While in principal, I'd agree that research devices shouldn't pollute, your phrasing is a bit hyperbolic. Do you realize the magnitude [wikipedia.org] of the junk [stormingmedia.us] we toss into ocean? The Argo bots are insignificant. Don't get your knickers all in a twist about litt

  • A short history of the OSU Buoy Group (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Frosty Piss ( 770223 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @10:43PM (#21443199)
    My father has been dropping computers into the ocean for 30 years. Learn more here: http://cmrecords.net/osu/history.htm [cmrecords.net]

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by birdwithoneleg ( 1192721 )
      I was part of a team that designed instrumentation that does the same thing: http://www-ccs.ucsd.edu/research/sbcsmb/drifters/ [ucsd.edu]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Trogre ( 513942 )
      Me too. But please don't tell those recycling guys.

  • sensors that are unmaintained (Score:3, Interesting)

    by timmarhy ( 659436 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @11:07PM (#21443327)
    How do they calibrate and test the accuracy of these sensors?

    • Re:sensors that are unmaintained (Score:4, Informative)

      by Freedryk ( 117435 ) on Thursday November 22, 2007 @03:13AM (#21444449)
      I'm not totally sure how they do the calibration, I don't actually work with Argo, but I used to work in the same department as one of the main groups manufacturing floats. This is what I remember from papers I've read and stuff I picked up at seminars, so I may have the details wrong. Before they are launched, the sensors are calibrated using a sample of IAPSO Standard Seawater. Once they are out at sea, sensor drift is estimated a few ways.

      First, if another Argo float moves through the same body of water as a previous one, the measurements they make are compared. Each year you get a few hundred matchup like this and that lets you get an indication of the drift.

      Second, there are ship measurements that are taken periodically as research vessels cross the ocean. These measurements can be calibrated very exactly, and they sometimes cross float tracks, so you can compare the ship data with occasional float data. They can also send ships out specifically to compare with certain floats, cause the floats transmit their position home every few days.

      Third, they've fished some of the floats out of the water and recalibrated them. The ones they've recalibrated this way are used as a sample to calculate drift rates.

      Fourth, the reconstructions of ocean state that they do are based on interpolation and long averages, and if the drift is random, the average of a bunch of the floats should be close to reality. If a float is obviously drifting too far from reality (as measured by other floats or the climatology for the area) the data is flagged and removed from the main dataset.

      They tried to make the floats accurate to within about .1 PSU over their lifetime (Ocean Salinity is generally between 32-36 PSU, depending on where you are) and I think their measured accuracies from the floats they retrieved and recalibrated are within about .2 PSU. So essentially, it's really hard to calibrate these things and they try every method they can think of to do so. 0.2 PSU error may not seem that great, but before the array went in the best guesses we had were probably more like within .5 PSU or so, and we didn't have any information about how it varied with time. There was not a lot of Salinity data from the deep ocean before Argo.

      Similar methods are used to calibrate the temperature and oxygen sensors, but you get the idea.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mh1997 ( 1065630 )

      How do they calibrate and test the accuracy of these sensors?
      Accuracy is not required in global warming studies because global warming has been solved, the new problem is called climate change. I am not sure if sensor accuracy is important in climate change studies.
  • It's all well and good predicting the outcomes. In general the consensus says it's not going to be pretty yet we still have no real action on preventing any of this.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by timmarhy ( 659436 )
      preventing what so far appears to be the natural cycle of the planet?

      the jury is still out on man made climate change, inspite of what some would force down our throats.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by projektdotnet ( 1061236 )
        Agreed. How long have we kept accurate historical documentation on world climate? What is to say in 2000 years it won't be back to the return of the ice age?

  • Donation (Score:1, Funny)

    by nitro316 ( 1179211 )
    Can I donate a couple of computers to this project? I don't want to have waste time to remove Vista so throwing them in the ocean seems like a good enough idea for me. Don't care much if they float though
  • Here's a link to an online tool that lets you plot data from the Argo arrays. Got it from Wikipedia.

    http://dapper.pmel.noaa.gov/dchart/ [noaa.gov]
  • Sea temperature can be measures by satellite and, unless you're expecting "The day after tomorrow", thermohaline circulation is quite constant. (And if it changes, it's a bit late to do anything about it).

    So, are they getting from the buoys something more than a known temperature and a constant value?

    It seems similar to putting ground vibration sensors to know if a meteorite hit us.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by itwerx ( 165526 )
      Sea temperature can be measures by satellite...

      But you only get a 2D image from satellite. Depth measurements like these give you more of a 3D image.
            Like the difference between seeing a sketch of a new building from a single perspective vs an architect's model that you can peer into and around from any angle.

  • Oblig joke (Score:4, Funny)

    by mariuszbi ( 1113049 ) on Thursday November 22, 2007 @05:46AM (#21444935)
    Why did the integer drown ? Because it couldn't float!

  • Budding Oceanographer? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Catharsis ( 246331 ) on Thursday November 22, 2007 @05:52AM (#21444953) Homepage
    I've worked with Argo data on several occasions and I've developed some Matlab code which makes the whole process quite a bit easier. It handles caching/retrieving/querying data from the official database and also a whole bevy of visualization options. It's scripter-only stuff and hasn't been touched in a year or two but was working very well for my needs recently. Query options include date/map polygon/float number/other metadata, and visualization covers a whole range of oceanographic plots from isosurfaces and sections, to property/property plots, waterfall plots, even some protoypical 3d-surface visualization plots... you name it, I've probably done it twice.

    Of course, it's all freely available to anyone who might be interested. I only ask that if you make improvements, you share them back so that they can become part of the main distribution.

    The Argo dataset is really, really cool and easy to get into! Too bad the resolution is so low and the salinity sensors tend to get fouled over time.
  • S: What are the odds of two buoys failing?
    T: Remote.
    [another buoy seen on the computer screen fails]
    S: Make that three.
  • From TFA: "To maintain this level, around 800 Argo floats need to be deployed per year"

    So, the boxes die and are these removed from the ocean? Or just left there? But I guess one straw can't break camel's back.

  • ...i read it as 'floating commuters keep an eye on oceans' :) My bad.

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