WATCH: An underwater robot is tested on the Great Barrier Reef

• Aerial and underwater robots are tested to allow greater remote monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef.
• A hyperspectral camera attached to the blue ROV2 was used to capture images with more than 270 color bands. The researchers also launched a large aerial drone off the RV Cape Ferguson research vessel.

Researchers at the Australian Institute of Ocean Sciences have tested aerial and submarine robots to monitor the Great Barrier Reef.

A Modified Blue ROV2 (Remotely Operated Vehicle), with a 100-meter diving capacity, can lock and follow a transect line through a reef, which is usually done by a team of divers, to monitor health from a reef.

The robot has a hyperspectral camera that captures over 270 bands of color information too complex to the naked eye, giving it the opportunity to study the reef so detailed, including seabed mapping, depth of water and identify bleached corals.

"This is the first time that a hyperspectral camera has been tested under water on our ROVs," says Melanie Olsen, leader of the Australian Institute for Marine Technology Transformation.

"We did something revolutionary – a 900-gm hyperspectral camera under our great aerial drone off our RV Cape Ferguson research vessel, on a coral transect on John Brewer Reef, who is one of the most of our long-term monitoring sites.

"It was also the first time we flew ROVs and drones simultaneously during night missions."

Researchers in Action:

"These robots will be coming soon so we are helping our marine scientists to do the important work of helping to support these reefs," says Olsen

. 39, speed up the collection and processing of data. This two-week test showed that we can perform missions at night, and we can go further.

"We can monitor aspects of coral reefs that we have not been able to before."

Olsen says that robots mean that the reef can also be monitored when it is dangerous to put a diver in the water because of crocodiles darts or sharks.

The Australian Institute of Ocean Sciences works in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology to take advantage of Australian expertise in marine robotics in shallow water.

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