CSIRO and international partners have launched a fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles from Hobart, Australia, to measure how much carbon dioxide the Southern Ocean absorbs. The wind and solar powered drones will circumnavigate Antarctica quarterly for five years, covering about 22,000 km per trip and collecting data on CO2 levels, temperature, salinity, and oxygen in both air and seawater. The Southern Ocean accounts for roughly 40% of global ocean CO2 uptake, but harsh conditions have left it under-monitored. Continuous data from these drones will improve estimates of ocean carbon sinks and feed into the annual Global Carbon Budget, helping researchers track whether the ocean continues to absorb a third of human emissions or starts to saturate.
