干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

There are concerns about the impact that global warming will have on our environment, and which will inevitably result in expanding deserts and rising water levels. AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) were considered and chosen, as the most suitable tool for conducting surveys concerning these global environmental problems. JAMSTEC has started building a long range cruising AUV. The plan for its development is in several steps. As the first step an AUV, named "URASHIMA", was built in 1999, and sea trials have been held since 2000. URASHIMA dived to 3,518 meters depth in 2001. At the end of February 2005, URASHIMA was able to cruise autonomously and continuously for 317 kilometers, beyond its target range of 300 kilometers. This record is the longest one in the world. PEFC (Polymer electrolyte Fuel Cell) power system with Metal Hydrogen storage has been developed for expanding its cruising range. As the second step, an AUV "URASHIMA-2", which will cruise more than 3,000 kilometers, will be developed from 2007. The development plan of the next AUV was selected as one of the official national important technologies in Japan. The deep-sea areas we know of constitute only a small fraction of the entire deep-sea. The information that can be obtained by man-made satellites is limited to that pertaining to the surface or subsurface portions of the sea. Today, man does not have the means to canvass the entire deep-sea at one time. If a number of AUVs like the URASHIMA autonomously cruise in various deep-sea areas of the world, man will then, for the first time, be able to get the entire picture of the deep-sea.