Technology Breakthrough in Ocean Data Recovery

FMRI has been funding the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) to undertake a demonstrator mission using a wave-propelled uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to recover scientific data from a sensor moored 1,800 metres deep in the Rockall Trough.

This is an incredible achievement by the team at SAMS and our [industry] partners at Autonaut and Sonardyne. We believe it is the first example of through-water communications of ocean climate research data to an autonomous vehicle, and instant transmission of data to shore.

Delivered as a partnership between a UK research institution and industry, this project has demonstrated an affordable and environmentally sustainable approach for measuring our ocean with greater spatial and temporal coverage.

As we carefully consider what the UK's future marine research infrastructure needs to include to enable frontier science, the innovative use of new technology and the adoption of novel scientific techniques demonstrated in this project is hugely important.