ABOARD XUELONG, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A sea glider was deployed in the Arctic Ocean in ice-free area for the first time with Chinese icebreaker RV Xuelong during the third Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition, a senior scientist from the European Union (EU) said here Tuesday.

    The albacore-profile sea glider has a length of 2.5 meters and a wingspan of 2 meters. It can operate between surface and a depth of 200 meters by changing its buoyancy through a piston in the ocean, unlike autonomous underwater vehicles that controls their speed with a propeller.

    The glider can be operated nonstop under water for up to 40 days and collect conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) data, which will be transmitted through iridium satellite network when it comes up to surface several times a day.

    "This sea glider was deployed for the first time in the Arctic ocean in summer in an ice-free region," said Jean-Claude Gascard, coordinator of the Developing Arctic Modeling and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies (DAMOCLES), EU's largest Arctic research project.

    As a four-year (2006-2009) European Integrated Project under the 6th framework Program of EU, DAMOCLES involves 48 laboratories and institutions in 11 European countries. It is considered one of the major contributions of the EU to the International Polar Year (IPY).

    China signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Collaboration between the IPY-China Program and the EU project DAMOCLES with EU in May this year, aiming to initiate collaborations on environmental monitoring, data collecting, analyzing and modeling in Arctic sciences.

    Gascard said the EU is confident to carry out mutual cooperation on polar research with Chinese scientists since China has rapidly enhanced its research capabilities over the past few years.

    He said the melting of sea ice is the first evidence of earth climate change due to human activities and increasing green house gases concentration in the atmosphere. The disappearance of Arcticsea-ice in summer in the near future might have enormous consequences on sea level rise and the melting of Greenland ice and permafrost, which releases large quantities of methane into the atmosphere.

    "These problems concern every one in the world and all countries should come together to help understanding the problem to find a solution," Gascard said.

    He said the EU had established good cooperation with the United States, Russia and Canada in scientific research over the Arctic.

    "The participation of China will make this cooperation stronger," Gascard added.