A team of researchers has successfully measured the thickness of Antarctic sea ice for the first time using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) called SeaBED.

"This is the first AUV mission where we could get detailed maps of ice. Working with robots under water is more challenging but there have been significant advances in the technology," according to Ted Maksym, a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist and co-author of the study.

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SeaBED, a two meter long, state-of-the-art underwater robot, is part of a technological revolution allowing experts to "use aerial and underwater drones to better understand ecosystems". It has built the first detailed, high-resolution 3D maps of Antarctic sea ice.

Polar Oceanographer Dr. Guy Williams of the Institute of Antarctic and Marine Science said "the full 3D topography of the underside of the ice provides a richness of new information about the structure of sea ice and the processes that created it."

SeaBED weighs nearly 200 kilograms; has a twin-hull and mounts a propeller. It was operated remotely at a depth of 65 to 100 feet (20 to 30 meters) in two expeditions; the British Antarctic Survey's RRS James Clark Ross in 2010 and the Australian icebreaker the RSV Aurora Australis in 2012.

Data collected from the AUV indicated the "sea ice was much thicker in some areas than previously thought," Reuters reported.

"The AUV missions have given us a real insight into the nature of Antarctic sea ice. We can now measure ice in far greater detail and were excited to measure ice up to 17 meters (56 feet) thick," said Jeremy Wilkinson, a co-author from the British Antarctic Survey.

Wilkinson added "it is difficult to say whether these findings are positive or negative yet as we have nothing to compare them to but this is the start of the journey."

The study was published in the latest issue of the journal, Nature Geoscience.

TagsUnderwater Robot, SeaBED, RSV Aurora Australis, Antarctic sea, antarctic sea ice, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle