| Photo |
Location |
Comments |
Status |
 |
McMurdo Station, Antarctica
Testing Chronology |
Installed in January 2006, currently located on Observation Hill. Allows testing of complete
systems under Antarctic conditions with year-round support from the McMurdo Research Associate.
Our thanks to Rebecca Batchelor, Jason Bryenton, Brian Nelson, and Jason Bryenton again for
excellent support at McMurdo, and to Ethan Good and Robert Furhmann for the same with our
prototype sites at South Pole. |
Currently testing power-switching behavior of a NetRS system with Iridium comms and two independent
battery banks: rechargeable SLA batteries, and non-rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The SLA
battery capacity was undersized for wintertime operation, therefore system switched to low-power mode on lithium
batteries mid-winter 2009. System returned to normal operation in spring 2009 and 100% of wintertime data was retrieved. |
 |
University of Colorado Niwot Ridge Tundra Lab
Testing Chronology |
Located at 11,600ft elevation on the continental divide. Provides a remote alpine environment for
system testing and validation, along with amenities such as ethernet, real-time and historical
weather data, and a live webcam. |
Wiring and electronics are configured identically to POLENET system to allow local observation of system performance.
Also continuing to validate Forgen 500 wind turbine in high wind alpine conditions. System has new smaller
Margin-style structural frame. |
 |
UCAR Facility, Marshall Colorado |
Located just south of Boulder. Provides a secure, remote location for prototyping, development,
and long duration burn-in testing of complete systems prior to deployment in polar locations. |
Current testing includes new netRS firmware, new timer switch, dual GPS receiver
power inputs, new Iridium antennas, and long duration burn-in testing.
Past testing has included optimizing Iridium data download techniques to increase reliability and reduce power consumption,
wind turbine testing, active enclosure heating, and improving Iridium
communications with Trimble NetRS receiver. |
 |
Thermotron Environmental Test Chamber, Boulder UNAVCO office |
-70C to +70C temperature range. Ideal for testing individual components outside manufacturers' specifications. |
Past and present testing includes cold-worthiness of individual components,
cold-culling of complete electronic systems prior to deployment, and SLA battery performance down to -70C. Photo shows
cold-testing of Antarctic Plateau testbed system prior to deployment at South Pole. |
unavco.org