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In a remote area of the windy, frozen Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska, engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California huddled together and stared at a narrow hole in the thick sea ice. Below them, a cylindrical robot collects test scientific data in the cold ocean, connecting it through ropes to a tripod that puts it into drilling.
The test gave engineers the opportunity to operate their prototype robot in the Arctic. It’s also a step towards the final vision of the IceNode project: a group of autonomous robots will venture under the Antarctic ice shelf to help scientists calculate how quickly frozen continents lose ice and how quickly melting could cause global ocean warming.。
The sea is warming and the terrain is dangerous
If the Antarctic ice sheet melts completely, global sea levels are expected to rise by 200 feet (60 meters). Its fate is one of the biggest uncertainties in sea level rise predictions. Just as rising temperatures cause the surface to melt, ice melts when it comes into contact with the warm seawater circulating below.
To improve computer models that predict sea-level rise, scientists need more accurate melting rates, especially under ice shelves (sheets of ice floe that extend for miles from land). Although ice shelves do not directly increase sea level rise, they do slow down the flow of ice sheets to the ocean.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s IceNode program is designed for one of the most inaccessible locations on earth: underwater caves deep in the Antarctic ice shelf. The goal is to obtain melting rate data directly at the ice-sea interface in the area where ice melts fastest. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Challenge: The places where scientists want to measure melting are among the most difficult places on earth to reach. Specifically, scientists hope to target underwater areas known as the “ground contact zone,” which are floating ice shelves, ocean and land exchanges, and look at unmapped depths in caves where ice may melt fastest. The dangerous and ever-changing landscape above is dangerous for humans, and satellites cannot see the voids, which sometimes lie under a mile-thick ice. IceNode was designed to solve this problem.
“We have been thinking about how to overcome these technical and logistical challenges for years, and we think we have found a way,” said Ian Fenty, a climate scientist at JPL and head of science for IceNode. “The purpose is to directly obtain data on the melting interface of the ice sea below the ice shelf.”
floating fleet
Using their expertise in designing space exploration robots, IceNode engineers are developing an aircraft about 8 feet (2.4 meters) long and about 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter, with a three-legged “landing gear” that pops out from one end to connect to the robot. These robots do not have any form of propulsion; instead, they locate themselves autonomously with the help of novel software that uses information from ocean currents models.
Arctic field test
Although IceNode requires further development and testing, the work so far is promising. Following previous deployments under the frozen winter waters of California’s Bay of Montreal and Lake Superior, a trip to the Beaufort Sea in March 2024 provides the first polar test. Temperatures of-50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 degrees Celsius) pose challenges for both human and robotic hardware.
The test was conducted through the biennial Ice Camp at the U.S. Navy’s Arctic Crash Laboratory, a three-week operation that provides researchers with a temporary base base where they can conduct field work in the Arctic environment.
As the prototype descended about 330 feet (100 meters) into the ocean, its instruments collected salinity, temperature and flow data. The team also conducted tests to determine the adjustments needed for future robots to break free.
“We are satisfied with the progress. It is hoped to continue developing prototypes, bring them back to the Arctic for future sub-sea ice testing, and eventually see the entire fleet deployed under the Antarctic ice shelf,”Gehrig said. “This is valuable data that scientists need. Anything that brings us closer to achieving this goal is exciting.”
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Original text:https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-underwater-robots-venture-deep-polar.html
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