MRI beta system in West Antarctica. Polar continental margin design system deployed at Cordiner Peak in january 2008 as part of the POLENET project. The moderately sized battery bank with charging from solar and wind makes the system deployable with a single light aircaft visit.		Polar plateau design prototype deployed at the South Pole. The system enclosure is buried as a buffer against extreme temperature swings, has high efficency vacuum panel insulation, Iridium communications, active heating, and wind and solar power sources for year-round autonomous operation. Similar systems were installed in the Recovery Lakes region from the Norway-US IPY Traverse in January 2009.

Overview

Long term data collection from permanent stations in polar regions provides a tool for both glaciology and solid earth deformation research. Continuous, year-round seismic and geodetic measurements at remote sites are now contributing to longstanding polar and global geoscience goals that have previously been unattainable. Reliable power and communication systems for such sites are essential to ensure the desired data are collected and to minimize logistical support expenses. Development, system engineering, and testing are ongoing activities at UNAVCO, with relevant technical information consolidated below. A broader overview of polar technolgies, with the goal of providing a useful working resource for researchers in choosing, designing, implementing, and maintaining remote power systems in polar environments is provided at the NSF sponsored PolarPower web site.

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Major Research Infrastructure (MRI) funding to the IRIS/PASSCAL and UNAVCO Facilities for a unique 3-year proposal to design and build a reliable power and communication system for autonomous polar station operation. This development effort involves close collaboration with Antarctic seismologists and GPS scientists. The goals of this project are to use the latest power and communication technologies, linked with the collective experience and expertise of the science community and IRIS/UNAVCO staff to:

1. Design, integrate, and test a scalable power and communication system optimized for ease of deployment and reliable multi-year operation in severe polar environments, and
2. Provide an initial pool of these systems for deployment and testing in science experiments.

GPS Remote Polar Permanent Station Design

GPS/Seismic Remote Stations MRI Project

Polar Technology Links

Last modified Wednesday, 22-Apr-2009 00:55:23 UTC

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