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Hydro International -
Australian scientists have sought the help of the United States and Australian navies to plug a critical gap in their Argo ocean and climate monitoring program caused by Somali pirates operating in the western Indian Ocean.
According to CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship scientist, Dr Ann Thresher, they have not been able to seed about one quarter of the Indian Ocean since the increase in the piracy and that has implications for understanding a region of influence in Australian and south Asian weather and climate.
Over thirty nations contribute to the multi-million dollar Argo project, in which 3,000 robotic instruments provide near real-time observations of conditions such as heat and salinity in the top 2,000 meters of the ocean.
Australia, through CSIRO and the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), ranks second among countries based on the number of profilers providing data, with more than 325 profilers reporting to international data centers from the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans and the Tasman Sea. At nearly two meters in length the drifting profilers, or ‘floats', are programmed to drift at 1000m for 10 days, then fall to 2000m and sample as they ascend to the surface to upload their data to satellites.
Although the Argo project offers shipping and defense benefits, its primary objective is to monitor ocean heat and salinity patterns that drive the climate and monsoonal systems which bring rain to Australia.
Dr Thresher said the programme is reliant on commercial shipping and research and chartered vessels to deploy the instruments. "With the region north of Mauritius being a no-go area for most vessels due to pirate activity, we have approached the US and Australian navies to assist us in deployments of around twenty profilers, including ten provided by the United Kingdom Argo project.
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