NASA tests ice robot IceNode for Arctic research
NASA researchers want to analyze the Arctic ice melt in more detail. They are using a robot to penetrate the necessary spaces under the ice.
JPL researchers position the IceNode robot together with its transport vehicle through a borehole under a sheet of ice.
(Image: U.S. Navy / Scott Barnes)
Engineers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the US space agency NASA have tested the prototype of the IceNode ice robot in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. The cylindrical robot was able to autonomously collect scientific data under the ice. The aim is to build up a fleet of robots that will continuously collect data on the thickness of the Arctic ice and thus provide information on the melting of the ice.
The Arctic ice sheet is of global importance. If it were to melt completely, the global sea level could rise by around 60 meters and flood land masses. Scientists therefore want to precisely determine the causes of melting and keep an eye on the process. These include the rise in air temperature on the one hand and the increasingly warmer ocean water circulating under the ice layer on the other.
However, in order to improve computer models that allow sea level rise to be predicted, scientists need data on melting rates. Kilometre-long ice shelves, which prevent the ice sheets from flowing into the ocean, are particularly important here. To do this, the researchers need to take measurements under the Arctic ice sheets. However, these locations are very difficult to access.
This is where IceNode comes into play. The robot will collect data in this area, known as the grounding zone, and venture deep into unmapped areas where the ice may be melting the fastest. It would be too dangerous for humans to operate there. Even satellites cannot see into these cavities.
IceNode provides test data
In a first field test in a polar environment, the researchers lowered the IceNode robot together with a transport vehicle, which is 2.4 m long and has a diameter of 25 cm, through a borehole under the ice. The experiment was conducted as part of the U.S. Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory's biennial Ice Camp.
The vehicle has a three-legged frame that extends and secures the robot under the ice. IceNode itself has no propulsion. The vehicle autonomously aligns the robot in the optimum position in relation to the ocean current. Data previously calculated using models of ocean currents is used for this purpose. IceNode can then determine data such as temperatures and water movements in this position. Among other things, the instruments measure how quickly warm, salty seawater rises, which can cause the ice to melt, and how quickly colder, fresher meltwater sinks.
The scientists are pursuing ambitious goals: They want to send an entire fleet of IceNode robots into the Arctic. They are to be lowered under the ice through boreholes or deployed by ship in order to use ocean currents to reach their destination, where they can then collect data. The robots could remain there for up to a year under adverse weather conditions. Then they would detach from the ice again, drift out into the ocean and send their data to a base station via satellite.
However, it may be some time before this happens. IceNode still needs to be further developed and tested accordingly. "It should be a safe, comparatively inexpensive solution to a difficult problem," says Paul Glick, head of the IceNode project and JPL robotics engineer.
(olb)