An uncrewed six metre research vessel has been deployed from Hobart to spend five months crossing the Southern Ocean. The CSIRO mission is designed to gather data on ocean heat and carbon exchange in one of the least measured marine regions on the planet. The vessel is expected to cover roughly 22,000 km before being recovered. The Southern Ocean plays an outsized role in absorbing atmospheric CO2, but rough conditions make it hard to study from ships. If the drone returns reliable measurements, it could tighten estimates of how much carbon the ocean takes up and how that changes with warming. The project also shows how uncrewed platforms are becoming a practical option for climate monitoring.
