Autonomous platforms

Finnish Meteorological Institute maintains a multiplatform marine observation network in the Northern Baltic Sea. The network includes Argo-floats for open sea hydrographic profiling, ice drifters, wave buoys, and bottom-mounted moorings for hydrography, currents and sea-ice thickness measurements. Most of the operational data is available through FMI open access data portal.

FINMARI partnership has established a network of 4 profiling buoys close to the four main field stations.

The newest investment is the Benthic Lander, which is used for observing interactions between the sea floor and water column.

Argo Floats

Argo is an international observation system for measuring temperature, salinity, currents and bio-optical properties in oceans. The international program has been operational since the early 2000s. The observations are based on free-drifting profiling floats, operating autonomously for extended periods and delivering their data via satellite connection when visiting the surface. Currently, the global Argo fleet consists of almost 4000 drifting "Argo floats" worldwide (click the map below to see today's situation).

FMI operates three Argo floats in the Baltic Sea, two in the Bothnian Sea and one in the Gotland Basin. These Argo floats have been adapted to shallow water conditions. One of the Argo-floats measures temperature and salinity profiles in the Bothnian Sea daily, while the other two are equipped also with oxygen and chlorophyll-a sensors and measure their profiles weekly. The Finnish Argo floats are part of the Euro-Argo ERIC research infrastructure.

Contact

Dr. Laura Tuomi, Finnish Meteorological Institute

Simo-Matti Siirilä Finnish Meteorological Institute

Links

Argo Portal

Gliders

An ocean underwater glider is an autonomous, unmanned underwater vehicle used for measuring physical and chemical parameters , e.g. temperature, salinity and chlorophyll, depending on the sensors they are equipped with.

The gliders regulate their buoyancy, diving at angle slowly to pre-set depth, rising again to the surface, and sending by satellite connection the data collected during the dive. Their mission can be remotely controlled by sending route commands during surfacing. They are suited for collecting data in remote locations, safely and at relatively low cost. The gliders are able to travel far distances over periods of weeks, even months, without servicing.

FINMARI has moored four profiling buoys in the vicinity of each field station (Tvärminne /UHEL, Seili /UTU and Husö/ÅAU, Utö). The buoy network yields high-resolution data on seasonal stratification dynamics, which are important for the coupling of the productive surface layers and the seabed. These material fluxes are highly relevant for eutrophication dynamics of coastal systems.

Contact

Lauri Laakso Finnish Meteorological Institute

Tony Cederholm Åbo Akademi University

Jari Hänninen Archipelago Research Institute

Joanna Norkko Tvärminne Zoological Station

Links

Profiling buoy at Seili Archipelago Research Institute

Benthic Lander

Benthic Lander is an observation platform for measuring benthic-pelagic coupling. It is deployed on the seabed to record physical, chemical or biological activity autonomously for several days to months.

The benthic lander steel frame is equipped with sensors. FINMARI is able to measure

pCO2 CH4 O2 H2S/pH/T and PO4 (Contros/4H-Jena, Aanderaa, Sea&Sun Technology/AMT, WetLabs/SeaBird)
3D profiler, ADCP SeaWatch 1200 kHz, LISST-100X particle detection and AQUAscat suspension profiler (Marine Electronics, Rowe, Sequoia and Aquatec)
Central logger and acoustic modems (Develogic)

The Benthic lander is a collaborate intestment of Syke and GTK and is operated by both institutes.