The cruise aimed to test technology and sensors in protected, calm waters of a Norwegian fjord, to identify an optimum solution and strategy for deployment during Nansen Legacy research cruises in the northern Barents Sea. The cruise was related to objectives of the Nansen Legacy Research Focus 1 ‘Physical drivers’ and Research Activity C ‘Technology and method development’.

During the cruise the following instrumentation was tested: a light autonomous underwater vehicle (LAUV “Harald”) integrated with microstructure sensors, a remotely-controlled motorized surface vehicle (ASV “Jetyak”), as well as an ascending vertical microstructure profiler in various configurations. Additionally, reference profiles were collected from the ship of ocean microstructure, currents and hydrography. The “Jetyak” collected echo sounder data, while “Harald” sampled turbulence, CTD and chlorophyll data. The “Jetyak” was tested successfully as a communications relay between the operators and “Harald”, increasing the communication range at sea level from 150m to 500m.