An ocean glider christened Challenger will set sail for Sri Lanka in the longest journey ever attempted by an autonomous underwater vehicle.

It is the first time an autonomous underwater vehicle of this type has been used in long-distance oceanographic research in the Indian Ocean and Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi of the University of Western Australia Oceans Institute expects to gain valuable information about temperature, current and salinity.

The 2.2m glider generates forward propulsion by altering its buoyancy, sinking to depths of 1km before returning to the surface twice a day to transmit its position and ocean readings via satellite to Pattiaratchi’s team, who can fine-tune its course in near real-time.

Prof. Pattiaratchi said the glider’s course would follow the historic four-year voyage of the HMS Challenger, which set off in 1872, and the data collected would be compared to that of those early oceanographic pioneers to see how the Indian Ocean has changed.

research will be looking at creating better predicting models for storms.

"The heat content of the upper ocean has a big impact on storms like typhoons and hurricanes. Ultimately we hope to better improve our forecasts of storm intensity," Professor Glenn said.

Such a comparison could inform our understanding of climate change and produce more accurate modelling in order to better predict what is happening in our oceans.

If all goes to plan, the $250,000 glider will eventually return to Rottnest, via Reunion Island or Mauritius, in three years.

Follow Challenger Glider Mission via the Australian National Facility for Ocean Gliders website: www.anfog.uwa.edu.au.