Research Objectives
The research objective for the Research on Research summer internship is to assemble information for POLENET field sites in order to help refine site selection and determine the optimal way to power the instruments for the West Antarctic POLENET GPS-seismic sensor network.
Some site locations have already been selected because GPS measurements have already been made at these points. General locations for other sites have been identified based on project science objectives. The goal of the Research on Research project is to refine the selection of specific locations for these sites, based on compilation and analysis of relevant site attributes
The Challenges for Design of the POLENET Network
- Getting to the field site.
- Many of our field sites are extremely remote. For example, Thurston Island is roughly 1000 miles from any Antarctic logistical hub.
- The harsh Antarctic environment.
- The average wind speed is near 25 mph and the record wind speed is 137 mph at Minna Bluff!
- Temperatures range from 0 to -50 degrees Celsius!
- Powering options
- The instruments must operate from a combination of solar, wind, and battery generated energy.
- Additionally, we must deal with the challenge of months of darkness which can be as long as 3-5 months.
Shown above is a solar panel used to power the GPS system
Site Selection
The POLENET field sites must meet certain requirements:
- A GPS station requires a ‘sky view’, which means no objects blocking the horizon.
- Solid bedrock for securing the instruments to the ground.
- Must be able to land a fixed wing aircraft on the snow near the rock site.
Site Attributes
To refine site selection, we examined:
- Topographic Maps
- Satellite Imagery
- Meteorological Data
- Previous Geologic Studies
- Relevant Historical Information
Shown above is a file crew loading GPS equipment into a fixed wing Twin Otter,
an aircraft capable of flying longer distances than a helicopter
To see all the information compiled for each site, go to the POLENET map and see the whole West Antarctic POLENET network.
I
POLENET Home | Site Map | Contact POLENET | ©2007 POLENET CONSORTIUM
Updated November 13, 2007
- Getting to the field site.
- Many of our field sites are extremely remote. For example, Thurston Island is roughly 1000 miles from any Antarctic logistical hub.
- The harsh Antarctic environment.
- The average wind speed is near 25 mph and the record wind speed is 137 mph at Minna Bluff!
- Temperatures range from 0 to -50 degrees Celsius!
- Powering options
- The instruments must operate from a combination of solar, wind, and battery generated energy.
- Additionally, we must deal with the challenge of months of darkness which can be as long as 3-5 months.
Shown above is a solar panel used to power the GPS system
Site Selection
The POLENET field sites must meet certain requirements:
- A GPS station requires a ‘sky view’, which means no objects blocking the horizon.
- Solid bedrock for securing the instruments to the ground.
- Must be able to land a fixed wing aircraft on the snow near the rock site.
Site Attributes
To refine site selection, we examined:
- Topographic Maps
- Satellite Imagery
- Meteorological Data
- Previous Geologic Studies
- Relevant Historical Information
Shown above is a file crew loading GPS equipment into a fixed wing Twin Otter,
an aircraft capable of flying longer distances than a helicopter
To see all the information compiled for each site, go to the POLENET map and see the whole West Antarctic POLENET network.
I
POLENET Home | Site Map | Contact POLENET | ©2007 POLENET CONSORTIUM
Updated November 13, 2007
- A GPS station requires a ‘sky view’, which means no objects blocking the horizon.
- Solid bedrock for securing the instruments to the ground.
- Must be able to land a fixed wing aircraft on the snow near the rock site.
To refine site selection, we examined:
- Topographic Maps
- Satellite Imagery
- Meteorological Data
- Previous Geologic Studies
- Relevant Historical Information
Shown above is a file crew loading GPS equipment into a fixed wing Twin Otter,
an aircraft capable of flying longer distances than a helicopter
To see all the information compiled for each site, go to the POLENET map and see the whole West Antarctic POLENET network.
POLENET Home | Site Map | Contact POLENET | ©2007 POLENET CONSORTIUM
Updated November 13, 2007