During Xiangyanghong 01’s mission in the 46th China Ocean Expedition, scientists set “Haiyan”, a Chinese self-developed autonomous underwater vehicle, in the South Pacific Ocean for the first time, observing ocean turbulence and providing data for ocean forecasting, environment protection and climate change research. Compared with traditional unmanned no-cable submersible, the underwater glider consumes less, costs less, sails longer and operates quicker, and can work underwater for the whole day with diverse sensors to collect turbulence and thermocline data.

On April 7, “Haiyan” was launched in the South Pacific Ocean, beginning its 8-day continuous work, and retrieved on April 15. The retrieving process last only for one hour for scientists’ hard work in locating, ship controlling and damage-preventing.

Ocean turbulence is a complex oceanic phenomenon and crucial for making ocean and climate foresting. All the data “Haiyan” collected in the mission will be transferred to QNLM afterwards and analyzed for further turbulence research.