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KAUST Announces Partnership with Ocean Aero for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Diver during a research trip in the Red Sea offshore of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. (Reuters)
Diver during a research trip in the Red Sea offshore of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. (Reuters)
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KAUST Announces Partnership with Ocean Aero for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Diver during a research trip in the Red Sea offshore of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. (Reuters)
Diver during a research trip in the Red Sea offshore of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. (Reuters)

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) announced a new collaboration agreement with Ocean Aero, a manufacturer and service provider of ocean-going Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicles (AUSVs).

Ocean Aero and Shelf Subsea, a service company for the marine industry, will bring the AUSVs into Saudi Arabia, which will enhance KAUST research of the Red Sea.

Ocean Aero’s TRITON Generation III AUSV is the world's first and only autonomous, environmentally-powered ocean vehicle that both sails and submerges for persistent, long-range ocean observation and data collection missions.

The solar panels and batteries on this AUSV allow the vehicle to spend months at sea unattended, whereas comparable AUSVs cannot explore for more than a day without direct handling.

The collaboration will benefit knowledge of the Red Sea and KAUST research in many ways. By customizing the AUSVs with sensors, the KAUST Red Sea Research Center will acquire new data that will be instrumental in understanding special features of the Red Sea, such as its unusual currents and biodiverse habitats and species.

In addition, the collaboration will advance KAUST’s Coastal and Marine Resources Core Lab capabilities and knowledge in marine robotics design and operation, which will enable the future development of KAUST’s own Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

Further, the KAUST Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division (CEMSE) is developing new features that integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of things (IoT) to the vehicles and sensors.

“In response to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) and Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, KAUST is further dedicating itself to Red Sea research.

The KAUST-Ocean Aero collaboration is one of many efforts that reflect this goal,” said Daniel Acevedo-Feliz, director of KAUST Core Labs and Research Infrastructure.

“We are excited to have Ocean Aero as partners, as not only their vehicles but also their shared expertise will significantly advance this project,” he added.

Ocean Aero CEO Kevin Decker said, “We couldn’t be happier to work alongside the oceanographers, researchers and marine scientists at KAUST. By providing a platform to delve deeper into data collection in the Red Sea than ever before, we’re able to do more science with less resources in a safe, consistent and reliable way.

“With Shelf Subsea’s expertise in maritime operations, we have the perfect partner to execute the launch, recovery, data processing and maintenance of the TRITON fleet.”

The collaboration kicked off immediately, with a number of TRITONs already stationed at KAUST, and more on the way.

The AUSVs, combined with training by Shelf Subsea on their operation, position KAUST and Ocean Aero to generate quick, meaningful results on the oceanography and marine biology of the Red Sea.

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Climate Change Causing More Change in Rainfall, Fiercer Typhoons, Scientists Say 

People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Climate Change Causing More Change in Rainfall, Fiercer Typhoons, Scientists Say 

People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)

Climate change is driving changes in rainfall patterns across the world, scientists said in a paper published on Friday, which could also be intensifying typhoons and other tropical storms.

Taiwan, the Philippines and then China were lashed by the year's most powerful typhoon this week, with schools, businesses and financial markets shut as wind speeds surged up to 227 kph (141 mph). On China's eastern coast, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated ahead of landfall on Thursday.

Stronger tropical storms are part of a wider phenomenon of weather extremes driven by higher temperatures, scientists say.

Researchers led by Zhang Wenxia at the China Academy of Sciences studied historical meteorological data and found about 75% of the world's land area had seen a rise in "precipitation variability" or wider swings between wet and dry weather.

Warming temperatures have enhanced the ability of the atmosphere to hold moisture, which is causing wider fluctuations in rainfall, the researchers said in a paper published by the Science journal.

"(Variability) has increased in most places, including Australia, which means rainier rain periods and drier dry periods," said Steven Sherwood, a scientist at the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New South Wales, who was not involved in the study.

"This is going to increase as global warming continues, enhancing the chances of droughts and/or floods."

FEWER, BUT MORE INTENSE, STORMS

Scientists believe that climate change is also reshaping the behavior of tropical storms, including typhoons, making them less frequent but more powerful.

"I believe higher water vapor in the atmosphere is the ultimate cause of all of these tendencies toward more extreme hydrologic phenomena," Sherwood told Reuters.

Typhoon Gaemi, which first made landfall in Taiwan on Wednesday, was the strongest to hit the island in eight years.

While it is difficult to attribute individual weather events to climate change, models predict that global warming makes typhoons stronger, said Sachie Kanada, a researcher at Japan's Nagoya University.

"In general, warmer sea surface temperature is a favorable condition for tropical cyclone development," she said.

In its "blue paper" on climate change published this month, China said the number of typhoons in the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea had declined significantly since the 1990s, but they were getting stronger.

Taiwan also said in its climate change report published in May that climate change was likely to reduce the overall number of typhoons in the region while making each one more intense.

The decrease in the number of typhoons is due to the uneven pattern of ocean warming, with temperatures rising faster in the western Pacific than the east, said Feng Xiangbo, a tropical cyclone research scientist at the University of Reading.

Water vapor capacity in the lower atmosphere is expected to rise by 7% for each 1 degree Celsius increase in temperatures, with tropical cyclone rainfall in the United States surging by as much as 40% for each single degree rise, he said.