| Thanks to all of you for coming along today to hear about how the robotic float project is helping with ocean research. |
| Well, first of all, we'll look at what a robotic float does and its use. |
| So let's start with the device itself. |
| It looks a bit like a cigar and it's about one and a half meters long. |
| More importantly, it's full of equipment that's designed to collect data. |
| So, it can help us in building up a profile of different factors |
| which work together within the world's oceans. |
| Sounds like a big project - isn't it too big for one country to undertake? |
| That's quite true but this project is a really good example of international co-operation. |
| Over the last five years, scientists from thirteen countries have been taking part in the project |
| and launching floats in their area of ocean control. |
| And next year this number will rise to fourteen when Indonesia joins the project. |
| That's impressive. |
| But let's move onto how floats work. |
| The operational cycle goes like this. |
| Each of the floats is dropped in the ocean from a boat at a set point and activated from a satellite. |
| Then the float immediately sinks about 2,000 meters... |
| that's two whole kilometers down in the water. |
| It stays at this depth for about 10 days |
| and is carried around by the currents which operate in the ocean at this level. |
| During this time it's possible for it to cover quite large distances |
| but the average is fifty kilometers. |
| So, what is it actually recording? |
| Well, at this stage, nothing, |
| but as it rises to the surface, it collects all sorts of data, |
| most importantly variations in salinity, |
| that's salt levels, and the changes in temperature, |
| a bit like underwater weather balloons. |
| Then, when it gets back to the surface all the data it's collected is beamed up to the satellite. |
| After about five hours on the surface, |
| the float automatically sinks, beginning the whole process again. |
| What happens to the data? |
| Well the information is transferred direct to onshore meteorological stations... |
| like our one in Hobart... |
| and within four hours the findings can be on computers |
| and they can be mapped and analysed. |
| You say you're building models of the world's ocean systems but... |
| how're they going to be used, and more importantly, when? |
| Some of the data has already helped in completing projects. |
| For example, our understanding of the underlying causes of El Nino events is being confirmed by float data. |
| Another way we're using float data is to help us to understand the mechanics of climate change, |
| like global warming and ozone depletion. |
| That's part of an ongoing variability study but the results are still a long way off. |
| However, this is not the case with our ocean weather forecasting. |
| Because we know from the floats what the prevailing weather conditions will be in certain parts of the ocean, |
| we can advise the navy on search and rescue missions. |
| That's happening right now |
| and many yachtsmen owe their lives to the success of this project. |
| In addition, the float data can help us to look at the biological implications of ocean processes. |
| Would that help with preserving fish stocks? |
| Yes, and advising governments on fisheries legislation. |
| We're well on the way to completing a project on this. |
| We hope it will help to bring about more sustainable fishing practices. |
| We'll be seeing the results of that quite soon. |
| It sounds like the data from floats has lots of applications. |
| Yes it does. |
| It's also a powerful agricultural tool. |
| If we were aware of what the weather would be like, say, next year, |
| we could make sure that the farmers planted appropriate grain varieties to produce the best yield from the available rainfall. |
| That sounds a bit like science fiction, |
| especially when now we can't even tell them when a drought will break. |
| I agree that this concept is still a long way in the future, |
| but it will come eventually |
| and the float data will have made a contribution. |