MASP-project

About the project

The goal of Multi-purpose Autonomous Surface Vessels for Polar marine research-project (MASP) is to develop uncrewed surface platforms for acquisition of oceanographic, bathymetric and other types of data in remote and challenging Polar marine environments, such as uncharted shallow-water coastal zone and areas near the tidewater calving glacier margins. The focus is on robustness, versatility and mobility. The project is a collaboration between UNIS, Stockholm University and The Royal Institute of Technology.

Coastal areas in the Arctic are socio-economically ever more important. These areas are also most sensitive to the climate and sea level change. Marine geological, glaciological, and oceanographic data from these areas are critical for better understanding the drivers and mitigating adverse consequences of the environmental changes. Also, the dynamics of the marine-terminating glaciers is poorly constrained and the processes controlling the loss of ice through calving and melting at at their margins are inadequately included in the numerical ice sheet and sea level models.

One of the main reasons for this is the lack of field data because acquisition of data in uncharted shallow coastal and at tidewater calving glacier margins, especially in difficult ice conditions with traditional methods, such as crewed surface vessels, is time-consuming, costly, and risky. The aim of MASP project is to develop robust and mobile platforms for collecting field data in the Polar environments suited for UNIS’ teaching and research activities.

Staff member:

More information on the MASP-project: https://sites.google.com/view/unis-usv/

External partners:
Nina Kirchner (Stockholm University)
Niklas Rolleberg (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Jakob Kuttenkeuler (KTH Royal Institute of Technology