NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a team of underwater robots designed to venture deep beneath the polar ice, providing crucial data to help scientists calculate how rapidly the frozen continent is losing ice and its impact on global sea levels.
Warming Waters, Treacherous Terrain
If melted completely, Antarctica’s ice sheet would raise global sea levels by an estimated 200 feet (60 meters). Its fate represents one of the greatest uncertainties in projections of sea level rise. Just as warming air temperatures cause melting at the surface, ice also melts when in contact with warm ocean water circulating below.
Scientists need more accurate melt rates, particularly beneath ice shelves – miles-long slabs of floating ice that extend from land. The challenge is that the places where scientists want to measure melting are among Earth’s most inaccessible.
The team at JPL has been pondering how to surmount these technological and logistical challenges for years, and they think they’ve found a way. The goal is getting data directly at the ice-ocean melting interface, beneath the ice shelf.
Floating Fleet
The engineers are developing vehicles about 8 feet (2.4 meters) long and 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter, with three-legged “landing gear” that springs out from one end to attach the robot to the underside of the ice.
Released from a borehole or a vessel in the open ocean, the robots would ride those currents on a long journey beneath an ice shelf. Upon reaching their targets, the robots would each drop their ballast and rise to affix themselves to the bottom of the ice.
The IceNode fleet would operate for up to a year, continuously capturing data, including seasonal fluctuations. Then the robots would detach themselves from the ice, drift back to the open ocean, and transmit their data via satellite.
Arctic Field Test
The Beaufort Sea trip in March 2024 offered the first polar test. Air temperatures of minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45 Celsius) challenged humans and robotic hardware alike.
The test was conducted through the U.S. Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory’s biennial Ice Camp, a three-week operation that provides researchers a temporary base camp from which to conduct field work in the Arctic environment.
Conclusion
IceNode has been funded through JPL’s internal research and technology development program and its Earth Science and Technology Directorate. JPL is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: What is IceNode?
IceNode is a team of underwater robots designed to venture deep beneath the polar ice, providing crucial data to help scientists calculate how rapidly the frozen continent is losing ice and its impact on global sea levels.
Question 2: What is the goal of IceNode?
The goal of IceNode is to get data directly at the ice-ocean melting interface, beneath the ice shelf, to help scientists calculate how rapidly the frozen continent is losing ice and its impact on global sea levels.
Question 3: How will the robots operate?
The robots will ride ocean currents on a long journey beneath an ice shelf, attach themselves to the underside of the ice, gather data, and then detach themselves and transmit their data via satellite.
Question 4: How long will the robots operate?
The IceNode fleet will operate for up to a year, continuously capturing data, including seasonal fluctuations.
Question 5: Who is funding IceNode?
IceNode has been funded through JPL’s internal research and technology development program and its Earth Science and Technology Directorate.
