The Southern Ocean is one of the roughest and most dangerous bodies of water on Earth. It’s also key to understanding the global climate system.

The vast distances and harsh conditions of the Southern Ocean have discouraged traditional ship-borne investigations that would help researchers resolve significant questions about just how much carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) the ocean absorbs, especially in winter. That’s why scientists are now turning to uncrewed systems.

On September 19, 2026, the first of four sturdy, instrumented Saildrone Explorer uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) departed from Hobart, Tasmania, marking the start of an ambitious, five-year effort offsite link to tackle this challenge.

Led by researchers at NOAA, Columbia University, Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( CSIRO offsite link ), the Constraining Ocean Carbon with Optimized Observing ( COCO2 offsite link ) project will deploy three more Saildrones every three months during 2027.…