Remotely Operated Vehicle (PROVe)
Q. For the first time the indigenously-developed Remotely Operated Vehicle (PROVe) is used for- Published on 25 Apr 16a. Mapping the coral reefs in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
b. Mapping the Indian Ocean Floor
c. Charting course in the Himalayas
d. Work in inaccessible areas for logistics and surveillance
ANSWER: Mapping the coral reefs in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India are the hot-spots of biodiversity with their unique Coral Reef bio-reserve.
- Currently, there is no mechanism other than Scuba diving to examine the corals and assess the extent of damage or rejuvenation that might be taking place since the great damages happened earlier.
- National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), for the first time, used the indigenously-developed Remotely Operated Vehicle (PROVe), to map the coral reefs in Andaman & Nicobar Islands (North Bay and Chidiyatapu) and that the ROV can be used for this purpose efficiently.
- The ROV can effectively map 4-6 sq.km. of coral reefs in a day, whereas the same job takes about a week for a Scuba diver. The images of corals recorded by the ROV are useful to study the biodiversity of coral reefs and their evolution.
- The radiometer attached on the ROV provided the spectral signatures of different types of corals in Andaman.
- The spectral signatures of the corals are valuable in developing algorithms to map the coral reefs using sensing techniques, especially the satellite remote sensing.
- Good news is that there are no evidences of coral bleaching at Andaman reef during the mapping period in April 2016 but will require constant monitoring to know what would happen when the temperature rises further.
