State-of-the-art equipment designed to help explorer Pen Hadow measure the thickness of the polar ice cap, as part of the Vanco Arctic Survey, will be tested to the limit this week in the Arctic circle.
Pen and the two other Ice Team members, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley are currently in Eureka, in northern Canada, for the 'Ice Trials'. During this week-long trial period, they will test the hi-tech equipment for the first time in sub-zero temperatures. The scientists who designed the equipment will be on hand to closely monitor its performance.
Equipment to be tested during the Ice Trials includes:
The Surface Penetrating Radar for Ice-Thickness Establishment, or SPRITE
The radar has been designed by Cambridge-based scientist Michael Gorman. Michael will be travelling to Eureka with Pen and the rest of the team to take part in the Ice Trials.
So far, all the individual components of the radar have been tested and are functioning well, but the radar has not yet been tested in its entirety. The results of the trials will give Michael a full picture of how the radar performs in Arctic conditions.
The Central Data Communications Processor and Data-Uplink System:
Satellite coverage of both polar regions is limited to one service - the Iridium satellite network. These low-orbit satellites are designed for speech and low-data rate communications. They have a maximum data rate of only 2,400 bits per second.
To handle large quantities of data, the expedition will be using six satellite modems operating in parallel, which will run for many hours per day. To allow 'real time' web-cam footage, very high image compression is used, combined with low-frame rates.
The onboard sledge computer is vital to the success of the Vanco Arctic Survey and its performance will be a main focus for the October Ice Trials. Pen and the team will carry out tests to see how efficiently the system can transmit data back to the project's HQ, at Watlington, near Oxford, UK.
A data log programme will run via a laptop computer to measure the signal strength throughout the expedition as well as the current consumption across the Iridium modems. The programme will also indicate how efficiently files can be sent back to HQ.
During the Ice Trials, the team plans to send back data recording SPRITE readings as well as video and still image files.
LifeShirt
The team will also be testing physiological monitoring systems, known as LifeShirts. These LifeShirts have been specifically designed to help medical personnel in everyday clinical situations and will be put to test in the extreme Arctic environment. Incorporating the LifeShirt into the Vanco Arctic Survey offers an excellent opportunity to assess how the body responds in a harsh environment.
Hi-tech sensors are woven into the shirt around the wearer's chest and stomach, to measure heart rate, breathing rate and volume.
The LifeShirt Recorder/Transmitter continuously encrypts and transmits the wearer's physiological data, which will in turn be sent to the survey vessel's onboard processor before being transmitted back to the UK HQ for analysis.
