India's first Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle operationalised in North Antarctica

March 26, 2015

India’s first Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle (PROVe) was successfully operationalised for research in North Antarctica by National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).
PROVe was operationalised, after it had undergone series of trials in Antarctica in the past two months since its deployment by the NIOT researchers.
It has been deployed in Priyadarshini Lake located on the Schirmacher Oasis which is a major source of water for Maitri, India’s second base in the Antarctica.
Key facts of PROVe

Indigenously built by NIOT under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Capable of probing the sea bed under normal temperature and capable of exploring up to 200 meters in inhospitable and tough regions like the ice clad Antarctica.
Operated remotely by scientists on board the ship and has inbuilt thrusters allowing it for 360-degree movement.
Will help researchers to study and find out details about dissolved oxygen in sea bottom, salinity and the quantity of sunlight hitting the bottom of the sea.
The results and outcomes will help researchers in understanding the biological activities taking place inside the sea.

Implications of its operationalisation in Antartica

Its breakthrough is a great leap forward in forecasting with precision the ever elusive Monsoon, a climatic phenomenon which determines India’s economy.
In case of forecasting Monsoon, PROVe will measure parameters like ocean currents, temperature and salinity in the Arctic.
It will especially help scientist to move away from present Mathematical models for forecasting the Monsoon which many times vary from initial forecasts.

Current operation will collect data for analysis in June 2015. This data will be used for analyzing hypothesis about the link between Antarctic Ocean currents and Indian monsoon system.

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