摘要：Submersible remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are valuable research tools for data collection in dangerous or inaccessible environments associated with glaciers terminating in the sea. At tide-water ice cliffs, iceberg calving makes close approaches for extended time periods In manned vessels dangerous. ROVs can be operated from relatively safe distances (hundreds of metres); they can also descend to considerably greater depths (hundreds rather than tens of metres) than scuba diving permits. They can provide data on glacier grounding-line and sea-floor morphology and water-column characteristics (e.g. salinity, turbidity, current velocity). They are also used for. diving under floating glacier tongues and ice shelves where no other access is possible. They can be fitted with a variety of oceanographic sensors, imaging sensors, tracking devices and water and sediment samplers, making them versatile research instruments that can supply qualitative and quantitative data for process studies in logistically difficult environments.
