ICOS Science Conference, Session 9

1. A PROOF OF CONCEPT STUDY FOR AN INTEGRATED OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM:
USING SAILDRONE TO VALIDATE FIXED OCEAN
STATION DATA - THE ATL2MED MISSION
Ingunn Skjelvan, Roberto Bozzano, Carolina Cantoni, Vanessa Cardin, Laurent Coppola, Björn
Fiedler, Michele Giani, Steve Jones, Anna Luchetta, Sara Pensieri, Benjamin Pfeil, Carlos Barrera,
Tobias Steinhoff, Adrienne Sutton, Sebastien De-Halleux, Laurence Beaumont, Vincenzo Vellucci,
Richard Sanders
ICOS Science Conference 15-17 September 2020

3. 330 380 430 480 530 ppm

4. Driven by wind and solar power
Atmospheric
measurements:
Wind speed
Wind direction
Temperature
Pressure
pCO2
Oceanic
measurements:
Temperature
Salinity
Current
Chl-a
Dissolved O2
CDOM
Backscatter
pCO2
pH
Surface camera
AIS
Physical
measurements:
Wave height
Echo sounder
ADCP
5 m
2 m
7 m
https://www.saildrone.com
Autonomous but supervised 24-7
Minute level data to shore
Facts about Saildrone USV

5. Example of previous Saildrone USV missions
Coastal
(North America)
Southern Ocean
(Pacific Sector)
Arctic
(Bering Strait)
Courtesy Saildrone

6. 12 SOOP lines
(ships with CO2
instruments
installed)
9 Fixed Ocean
Stations
1 Marine Flux Tower
(mixed station with an
ocean mooring)
Why test the concept of using Saildrones to validate ocean measurements?
22 ICOS
Ocean
Stations
CO2 measurements following
established methods including
reference gases
Equilibrator
Membrane based CO2 sensors

7. Courtesy Carlos Barrera/PLOCAN and Björn Fiedler/GEOMAR/OSCM
Facts about the ATL2MED mission:
Two vehicles used, one of them with CO2 instrument
Area: Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea
Duration: 9 months (18 October 2019 to 17 July 2020)
Distance sailed: 7500 nautical miles (13900 km) for each of the vehicles
Averaged speed: 2-3 knots
Fixed Ocean Stations visited: 9
3 extra key visit due to biofouling removal during the mission
The COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe in January 2020, when only 1/3 of the mission
was completed.

9. https://data.icos-cp.eu/portal/#%7B%22route%22%3A%22preview%22%2C%22preview%22%3A%5B%22-Ch7HPVEnx5bwK5prsMHz2-_%22%5D%7D
DATA processed using the online tool called QuinCe,
developed by the OTC data management group, and
made available at ICOS Carbon Portal

10. DYFAMED
Ocean Station
15-20 µatm
@ 0.5m
Preliminary data
DYFAMED @ 10 m
Salidrone @ 0.5 m

11. MIRAMARE
Ocean Station
8 µatm
MIRAMARE buoy
Saildrone tracks
Preliminary data
MIRAMARE @ 2 m
Salidrone @ 0.5 m
MIRAMARE @ 2 m
Salidrone @ 0.5 m

12. PALOMA
Ocean Station
Saildrone tracks
PALOMA
buoy
10-35 µatm
Preliminary data
PALOMA temperature @ 0.5 m
Salidrone temperature @ 0.5 m
PALOMA temperature @ 3 m
@ 3 m
PALOMA pCO2 @ 3 m
Salidrone pCO2 @ 0.5 m
pCO2 bottle @ 3 m
pCO2 bottle @ 0.5 m

13. Comparing data from
GLIDER and Salidrone
Preliminary data
Glider and
saildrone section
DYFAMED
Glider (Aanderaa optode) < 5 m
Saildrone SBE sensor @ 0.5 m
Saildrone RBE sensor @ 0.5 m
Nice
Calvi
Glider (Aanderaa optode) < 5 m
Saildrone SBE sensor @ 0.5 m
Saildrone RBE sensor @ 0.5 m

14. • Unmanned surface vehicles like the Saildrone, with the appropriate equipment, are robust
supplements for validating carbon data at Fixed Ocean Stations
• USVs are cost effective with respect to man power and ship time
• Long voyages are challenging with respect to e.g. sensor drifts, maintenance, and biofouling,
and these issues must be addressed
• Saildrones are powerful tools in situations with lockdown of other observing systems, like the
Covid-19 pandemic
• Saildrones are promising with respect to integrating observing system like gliders, Argo floats,
fixed stations, and ships
• Data from the mission are processed using the OTC developed tool Quince and distributed to
the ICOS Carbon Portal
Summary, outcomes, and lessons learnt

15. Thank you for listening
and
thank you to the sponsors!