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Onboard the icebreaker Xuelong (or Snow Dragon), the Arctic ARV (Autonomous and Remotely operated vehicle) developed by Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA), the Chinese Academy of Sciences set off from Shanghai on July 11st, 2014, starting its mission in the sixth CHINese Arctic  Research  Expedition(CHINARE). It is the third time that the vehicle participates in Chinese  Arctic scientific exploration. 

Using workboat or ice hole as supporting platform, the Arctic ARV will carry multiple equipment to conduct observation from the bottom of the ice. The obtained scientific data will help scientists to further study the mechanism behind rapid melting of Arctic ice. 

With the support of the National High-tech Research and Development (dubbed the “863” program) in the marine technique field, the Arctic ARV developed by SIA had participated in two successive CHINARE in the year 2008 and 2010. In order to meet the demands of field operation, the Arctic ARV has gone through the Lake tests  after a series of rebuilding. 

Researchers during lake test (Image provided by SIA)