Special buoys equipped with device developed by Chinese researchers to play key role in data collection in Antarctica

Analysts at the lab are scrutinising data collected by China's 40th Antarctic Expedition, which recently returned from a mission. Traditionally, research vessels are used to collect data and samples in Antarctic oceans, but this expedition stands out because it deployed subsurface mooring buoys.

These buoys proved useful in obtaining important data on seawater temperature, salinity and currents, even in the absence of researchers.

A key laboratory set up by the respected Ocean University of China has taken on the challenging task of using the buoys to collect data in the Amundsen Sea, an Antarctic region that is heavily affected by climate change and rapid ice shelf melting.

Professor Shi Jiuxin from the Ocean University of China emphasised the importance of these buoys for ocean research, highlighting an innovative device developed by the laboratory to address common problems encountered in data collection. This is reported by CCTV+, a partner of TV BRICS.

The newly developed device provides stability in data collection even in the face of potential failures such as buoy breakage or displacement by moving icebergs.

This stability was on full display during a recent expedition when the buoys successfully collected ocean water temperature data at various depths, including surprising observations of water above freezing at a depth of 600 metres.

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