NOC News Round Up - 5 March 2018

We're sorry it's late! The NOC in Southampton, where this bulletin is created, was severely affected by the snow at the end of last week, and we didn't manage to get it out on Friday as normal. NOC's robot fleet on active missions from pole to pole The world-leading fleet of marine robots operated by the NOC has just had its busiest two months ever. The robotic vehicles have been operating in some of the world's most hostile waters, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and from the coast to the deep ocean. Over 15 submarine gliders, wave gliders and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) were in action during January and February, spread across an area of ocean that extends for more than 15,000 km from the Barents Sea in the Arctic to the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic. The fleet is supporting a number of major science projects involving scientists from several universities and research centres across the UK. These projects include the study of climate-change and human impacts on marine ecosystems, measuring heat and carbon flux in the ocean, and studies of large-scale ocean circulation and physical processes. Find out where our vehicles are and what they are doing by viewing the MARS tracker. NOC trains next generation of ocean scientists in Fiji The NOC's Dr Socratis Loucaides was in Fiji this week training staff and students at the University of the South Pacific on how to use their new NOC-developed ocean acidification and nutrient monitoring sensors ahead of the sensors' two month deployment.   The project is part of the UK government's Commonwealth Marine Economies (CME) Programme which aims to help the most vulnerable Small Island Developing States (SIDS) make the most of their natural maritime advantages, to enable sustainable economic growth and alleviate poverty. @CME_Prog   This email was sent using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: National Oceanography Centre · Waterfront Campus · European Way · Southampton · SO14 3ZH · United Kingdom