Arctic tech gets sub-zero test

Satellite and radar equipment for measuring the thickness of the polar ice cap will be tested in the Arctic Circle next week.

The three-strong team of polar explorers will take the high-tech equipment for the ice trials in Northern Canada this weekend, marking the first time the kit has been exposed to sub-zero temperatures.

The ice cap is covered by a layer of snow and although indirect data is available on the snow and ice thickness, there has been no recent measurements of the ice breadth alone.

The Vanco Arctic Survey expedition will measure the ice's thickness and then the lifespan of the Arctic ice cap can be calculated from these measurements. Current estimates give it between 16 and 100 years left.

Included in the trials is a communications and satellite system, which will send the data collated by the team to the UK headquarters for analysis, and a radar system to record the ice thickness.

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Satellite coverage of both polar regions is limited to one service - the Iridium satellite network - and these low-orbit sats are designed for speech and low data rate communications, with a maximum data rate of only 2,400 bits per second.

To handle large quantities of data, the expedition will also be using six satellite modems in parallel to allow real-time webcam footage, which is compressed and combined with low frame rates.

The team will be using 'sledges' - large floatation devices containing the equipment - to transport the systems across the ice cap.

The onboard sledge computer uses a Linux-based system and consumes only two watts of electricity. Its main functions are to archive data, read data cards from the cameras and bio-data sources, handle compressed webcam images in real-time and feed data files to the six Iridium modems.

The expedition team will carry out tests to see how efficiently the system can transmit data back to the project's headquarters at Watlington, near Oxford, UK.

The aim is to send back same-day footage which will enable the team's progress to be followed.

The Surface Penetrating Radar for Ice Thickness Establishment - or Sprite - will also be tested as part of the weekend trials.

During the 120-day trek to the North Pole, the team will take around 10 million readings of the ice and snow thickness of the cap using Sprite, a ground-penetrating radar able to differentiate between the snow and ice layers.

Currently, it's not possible to take measurements of the ice thickness from indirect sources - such as satellites and submarines. The thickness of the Arctic ice cap hasn't been measured directly for around 40 years since explorer Sir Walter Herbert trekked across the North Pole and collected similar data on ice thickness.

To see photos of the Arctic tech, click here.