Giant 15-metre buoy floating off Western Australia communicating with NASA satellite
Is it a boat? Is it a buoy?
Seafarers off Western Australia's coast may spot a bizarre-looking 15-metre-tall buoy floating near Rottnest Island in the coming weeks.
In fact, the high-tech contraption is an optical system just launched by a team of Australian researchers working in concert with NASA's latest satellite mission studying Earth's oceans.
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A 15-metre-tall buoy has been launched off the coast of Perth by a team of Australian researchers to aid NASA's latest satellite mission. Curtin University
The system, which has been named the Marine Optical Network or MarONet, reaches 15 metres tall and has built-in sensors designed to capture the colour of the oceans.
It will play a critical role in verifying observations made by the PACE (Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds, Ocean Ecosystems) satellite from thousands of kilometres above the ocean's surface, explained Professor David Antoine, head of Curtin University's Remote Sensing and Satellite Research Group (RSSRG).
"We typically think of the ocean's colour as blue, but in many places, it looks blue-green because those areas are teeming with single-celled plants called phytoplankton, which contain chlorophyll and absorb the blue light," he said.
"Phytoplankton are tiny plants that, in addition to being a vital food source for all marine life, collectively produce more than half of the world's oxygen and absorb almost as much carbon dioxide as all the trees and land plants on Earth."
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The huge MarONet buoy at the workshop before its launch. Curtin University
Professor David Antoine, head of Curtin University's Remote Sensing and Satellite Research Group (RSSRG), who worked with NASA on the project. Curtin University
Sensors on Curtin University's buoy capture and analyse sunlight reflected from the ocean to measure algae levels.
This information is then sent to shore via the mobile network, where it helps fine-tune the satellite sensors for more accurate ocean monitoring.
"The unique oceanic conditions and clear atmosphere at the MarONet buoy site near Rottnest make it ideal for accurate calibration," project lead engineer Andrew Gray said.
The new buoy will work in close cooperation with sea sensors off Hawaii, which have been operating for more than 20 years.
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