Technology Developments to Advance Antarctic Research Proceedings of a Workshop (2022) / Chapter Skim
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3 Technologies for Research and Observational Instrumentation
3 Technologies for Research and Observational Instrumentation
Pages 9-30
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Within each of these sessions, a panel of speakers was asked to share examples of cutting-edge developments currently being explored within their particular research community, including insights on how those technological advances have been realized, and to offer thoughts on new advances to help researchers address scientific questions currently constrained by technological limitations. Before dividing into the parallel sessions, planning committee member Craig Lee, University of Washington, provided a short plenary overview of the "research and development trajectory" of ocean gliders (see Box 2)
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. BOX 2 Ocean Glider Development Trajectory Craig Lee helped set the stage for the day's discussions by giving an overview of the development arc for ocean glider technologies.
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, so if any one part fails, it is still possible to recover the vehicle. Key developments coming up in the next few years include updates to the onboard control system and projects looking at building new capabilities into the vehicles.
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However, she noted that it is a challenge to get support for technology development alongside science funding. Subsequent breakout discussions echoed this theme, with workshop participants noting the value of having science and engineering teams integrated from the outset of a project, to ensure that technology development and science goals advance together in real time.
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to collect data for long-term time series. Simple sensors collect time series of key properties, such as chlorophyll biomass to profile algal biomass and its spatial and temporal variation in the upper ocean (Laney et al.
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network, endorsed by the Global Ocean Observing System. The AniBOS network is part of an integrated, multipronged approach that uses animals to collect key oceanographic and behavioral information in areas that are difficult for scientists to sample with the traditional technology of ships, gliders, and floats.
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One participant flagged the concern that issues such as intellectual property rights and information held as proprietary by private manu facturers may hinder the widespread adoption of data standardization. FIGURE 4 Image of POLENET instrument in the field.
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In seismic research, there has been a massive reduction in power requirements of sensors and data loggers. Iridium telemetry has advanced over time, but needs remain for further advances that allow full telemetry transfer of field data, Wilson said.
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There are also opportunities to better leverage developments happening in related fields -- for example, developing seafloor geodesy technologies, both to look at subduction zone hazards and also possibly to study crustal motion beneath Antarctic ice shelves. Pedro Elosegui, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discussed how scientists studying glacier dynamics in dangerous, highly crevassed polar regions have thus far relied primarily on instrument deployment from helicopters and ships.
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CReSIS ensures significant involvement of students across this spectrum of work, from initial design to data processing. An NSF Science and Technology Center for Cold Ice Exploration (COLDEX, formed in 2021)
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The university is also exploring the possibility of repurposing an abandoned missile silo as an ice drill test facility. Some of these emerging drilling technologies also may allow retrieval of mixed mud-type cores at the base of ice sheets, something that current hot water drill tech nology does not accommodate.
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ATMOSPHERIC, SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL, AND ASTRONOMY/ASTROPHYSICS RESEARCH Gijs de Boer, University of Colorado Boulder, gave an overview of recent efforts to use remotely piloted aircraft at high latitudes to collect observations of complex, heterogeneous atmospheric and cloud processes. Work on this technology has advanced through partnerships at the University of Colorado, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
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The researchers' goal was to carefully measure all separate components of the surface energy balance -- incoming and outgoing shortwave energy, incoming and outgoing longwave energy, and sensible and latent heat fluxes -- to better understand the transfer of heat and energy from the atmosphere onto land, snow, or ice surfaces. Such observations help scientists understand the atmospheric contribution to ice melt, ocean mixed-layer warming, photochemistry, biological energy sources, and coupling processes.
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, but in the south, the Antarctic continent provides a place for scientists to deploy instrumentation to study these systems and advance space weather prediction capabilities. There is an array of different stations deployed for geospace monitoring in the Antarctic -- including crewed stations at McMurdo, South Pole, and Palmer; a network of Automated Geophysical Observatory (AGO)
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The IceCube work requires numerous collaborations across scientific disciplines and national programs. Ishihara and her team are trying to use observations from European Space Agency airborne radar soundings, ground penetrating radar, and other sources of information.
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To advance cosmology research, it is necessary to build instruments able to make more sensitive measurements, particularly of linear polarization. The South Pole, one of the highest and driest sites on Earth, allows high atmospheric transmission for microwave light and very low atmospheric emission, with very stable observing conditions.
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The rapid field sequencing capabilities available today are a game-changer for this sort of research, Varsani said. Sarah Johnson, Georgetown University, expanded the discussion on biological sequencing.
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or that get blown into or deposited in the lake. In polar environments, sedimentary ancient DNA can be retrieved by sampling ice cores, permafrost cores, or sediment cores extracted from the bottom of a lake.
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and washes everything else away. COMMON CHALLENGES ACROSS RESEARCH AREAS In the final plenary for this session, all workshop participants reconvened to share key ideas that arose in the three parallel sessions and to consider common themes among the groups.
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; and rapid DNA sequencing that can be utilized in the field or at McMurdo Station. Many participants also expressed interest in the opportunities and challenges of expanding the use of solar power for research instrumentation (see Box 5 in Chapter 4)
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Dan Costa said that the polar community is constantly faced with tradeoffs, and must look for a "sweet spot" balance. For instance, regarding the balance between data transmission and energy utilization, there is a trade-off between the costs and benefits of saving and transmitting all of one's raw data versus filtering and compressing those data streams.
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