The PlanetSolar DeepWater expedition is allowing researchers from the University of Geneva to take advantage of the exclusive features of the MS Tûranor PlanetSolar, the largest solar catamaran ever built. The researchers will conduct a unique campaign of physical and biological measurements along the Gulf Stream, with no carbon emissions. This scientific adventure aims to improve our understanding of the interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere, while raising public awareness of the complexity of climate change and its impacts.
Why the University of Geneva?
- An interdisciplinary team of scientists from the Institute of Environmental Sciences is using the data collected onboard to improve our understanding of the ocean processes involved in climate regulation.
- The applied physics group is testing a new technology dedicated to the study of aerosols at the ocean-atmosphere interface.
- A pedagogical team is developing didactic activities and resources that address climate change from a perspective that is both educational and fun.
Why the Gulf Stream?
- This ocean current helps to carry heat from the tropics to the polar regions in the North Atlantic, making it one of the most important regulators of the European and North American climates.
Why the MS Tûranor PlanetSolar?
- The use of a ship that is optimized and powered by renewable energy highlights one of the current technological solutions to the climate problem.
- The lack of pollution emissions guarantees that the atmospheric measurements will not be distorted by the residues associated with fuel combustion.
- The MS Tûranor PlanetSolar is the only solar boat large enough to accommodate scientists, while benefiting from a world-renowned navigation experiment.