PLOCAN’s underwater glider fleet has incorporated a new AURIS passive acoustic technology that expands its scientific ocean-observing capabilities and quality.
Among the direct and most interesting applications of AURIS highlights marine-mammal monitoring, as well underwater noise measurement as potential impact on the ecosystem in areas where activities linked to Blue Economy sectors are carried out, such as aquaculture, tourism, maritime transport, ocean energies, etc.
The PLOCAN consortium has successfully procured an AURIS passive acoustics module as scientific payload to be integrated into a SeaExplorer underwater glider for ocean-observing, through the supply contract L-CSU-PAS -19-2022.
The SeaExplorer is an unmanned autonomous vehicle able to profile the water column to a maximum depth of 1000 meters. Its high modular capacity allows the integration of a wide range of sensors for the real-time measurement of physical and biogeochemical ocean variables in continuous operation for several weeks. Its rechargeable battery system enables to considerably increase the presence in the ocean in a more efficient and sustainable way compared to other observing technologies.
Along with the rest of the units and technologies that includes the current fleet of marine autonomous vehicles of the VIMAS (Underwater Instrument Vehicles and Machines) facility of PLOCAN, the SeaExplorer glider suited with this new scientific payload is intended to qualitatively and quantitatively increase the oceanographic variables monitoring in an efficient and sustainable manner in support of the different programs and services that the PLOCAN infrastructure undertakes.
The procurement of new highly specialized equipment such as AURIS is part of the continuous improvement of capabilities and resources that PLOCAN has foreseen in its current Strategic Plan, in order to accomplish all the technical and operational needs as service-provider infrastructure.
