Antarctic Gateway Partnership Theme 4.1 - 2018/19 AUV Sørsdal Deployment

• Other Authors: Coleman, Richard (hasPrincipalInvestigator), King, Peter (custodian), King, Peter (pointOfContact), Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) (hasAssociationWith), Australian Maritime College, University of tasmania (hasAssociationWith)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Tasmania, Australia
• Subjects: oceans; autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV); BATHYMETRY; EARTH SCIENCE; BATHYMETRY/SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY; ICE SHEETS; CRYOSPHERE; GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS; MARINE MAGNETICS; MARINE GEOPHYSICS; OCEAN CURRENTS; OCEAN CIRCULATION; TIDAL CURRENTS; TIDES; CONDUCTIVITY; SALINITY/DENSITY; SALINITY; OCEAN TEMPERATURE; Surveying (incl. Hydrographic Surveying); ENGINEERING; GEOMATIC ENGINEERING; Marine Geoscience; EARTH SCIENCES; GEOLOGY; Special Vehicles; MARITIME ENGINEERING; Antarctic; Davis Station; Davis-Station; Antarc*; Antarctica; Ice Shelf
• Online Access: https://researchdata.edu.au/antarctic-gateway-partnership-srsdal-deployment/1438712; https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au:443/geonetwork/srv/en/metadata.show?uuid=17eb252e-8b67-4a48-99d0-8568a5c06c44

In support of future science missions, an engineering demonstration was conducted to show the ability of the nupiri muka AUV to be deployed and operated at an ice shelf. The AUV was deployed from Davis Station, Antarctica, to conduct underwater surveys in the vicinity of, and beneath, the Sørsdal ice shelf. The AUV conducted several surface transits from the station to the ice shelf, where dive missions at various depths were conducted. The primary mode of operation was the AUV tracking near the seafloor. In addition, a patch survey was conducted near the stations, where several sediment grabs were taken. Water column, seafloor, and ice morphology data was collected with the Explorer class AUV, nupiri muka. The AUV is equipped with a downward interferometric sonar, dual CTD, upward and downward ADCP, sub-bottom profiler oriented either up or down, and a magnetometer. Surface navigation is from a GPS, with subsea navigation calculated via an fibre-optic gyro coupled to a downward DVL. Periodic in situ navigation correction is conducted via a surface mounted USBL. The AUV conducted 6 transits to/from the station to the ice shelf where dive missions were conducted. On the final 2 transits a total of 3 under-ice missions were conducted. In addition, a calibration patch-test was conducted near the station, with subsequent sediment grabs collected. Missions at the ice shelf included transects parallel to the calving front, at several depths, and vertical profile dives. Under ice missions were orthogonal to the calving front, running both at a constant altitude of 100m, and constant depth of 500m.