CSIRO plumbs new depths in Antarctica

CSIRO scientists will deploy new deep-sea Argo floats in the Southern Ocean in an effort to build a better understanding of our oceans, how they are warming, and the impact on our climate.

A global network of over 3800 Argo floats already provides scientists with an understanding of ocean temperature and salinity down to 2000 metres, however, these new generation, data-collecting, autonomous ocean robots will provide unprecedented information about oceans up to depths of 5000 metres.

The deep-water Argo floats will be deployed as part of a six-week research expedition that will set sail for Antarctica tomorrow aboard CSIRO’s Research Vessel Investigator.

Researchers will be investigating climate contributions of the deep ocean, clouds and atmospheric aerosols through a series of projects that will fill information gaps about the magnitude and pace of future climate change.

Voyage Chief Scientist Dr Steve Rintoul, from CSIRO and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, said research from the voyage would provide unique information about the Southern Hemisphere’s ocean’s capacity to continue to absorb heat and carbon dioxide.

"The world's climate is strongly influenced by the oceans, and the vast Southern Ocean plays a major role in how climate variability and change will play out in future decades," Dr Rintoul said.

"We already know that the Southern Ocean makes important contributions to global sea level change through taking up more heat than any other ocean on Earth and through influencing how fast the Antarctic Ice Sheet loses mass.

"To understand this system we need comprehensive and continuous measurements over a huge area of ocean, which has been very difficult in the past."

Dr Rintoul's team will be deploying 11 deep-water floats near the Antarctic edge. It's the first time these next-generation deep water Argo floats will be deployed near Antarctica. By providing year-round measurements through the full ocean depth, the floats will fill a massive data gap for the climate research community.
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During the Investigator journey, an international team of scientists from agencies including CSIRO, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and the University of Utah, will conduct experiments to explore the interaction between aerosols and clouds.

Bureau of Meteorology Project Leader Dr Alain Protat said that the experiments will use a unique combination of aircraft, ship-based and satellite observations to collect detailed data on clouds and the interactions between incoming radiation, aerosol production, and then the formation of precipitation.

Ocean and atmospheric research conducted aboard the Investigator will provide valuable and unique insights to inform knowledge of climate change and sea level rise projections.

The Investigator is run by the Marine National Facility and is Australia’s only blue-water research vessel, enabling scientists from across Australia and the world to study from the equator to Antarctica. More CSIRO news.