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Future Plans
  diagram of the future AUV system envisioned as an event response tool (click for larger image)
Illustration of the AUV's role in the rapid response to eruptions. (click for full size)
 

Some of the most dynamic changes caused by a seafloor volcanic eruption occur within days to weeks after the event, often before a ship can be deployed. The long-term goal for NeMO is to have seafloor monitoring instruments and possibly an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) stationed at Axial to act as first response tools to an event to collect critical data. The AUV would be docked most of the time at the base of a mooring attached to a surface buoy. Scientists would be able to communicate through a satellite to the buoy to send instructions to the AUV via an acoustic modem. Unlike ROVs which are tethered to a ship, AUVs operate without a ship nearby because they are small battery-powered vehicles that can swim freely and carry out pre-programmed missions with a suite of sensors.

 
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