ROV exploration of the keel of the Campbell Ice Tongue in Antarctica

Abstract

The exploration of the keel of the Campbell Ice Tongue, carried out by Romeo, the ROV prototype developed by CNR-IAN for scientific applications and robotics research, in the course of the XIII Italian Expedition to Antarctica is reported in this paper. This mission enabled the first direct measurement of the ice tongue depth and revealed echo-sounders' multi-path phenomena, which constitute an exemplary case of sensing ambiguities, which supervisory systems for unmanned underwater vehicles are required to be able to manage.