Abstract
The ecological impacts of meltwater produced by icebergs and sea ice in the waters around Greenland are poorly understood, due in part to limited observations. Current field sampling methods are resource and labor-intensive, and not without significant risk. We developed a small, unmanned, and robotic platform to retrieve ice samples, while simultaneously eliminating risks to scientists and their support infrastructure. The IceDrone consists of a commercial hexcopter that is modified to retrieve shallow ice cores. We describe the design requirements, construction, and testing of the IceDrone. IceDrone’s capabilities were validated in the laboratory and during a field test in January 2019 near Nuuk (southwest Greenland). IceDrone retrieved shallow ice cores in hard and dry ice in harsh winter conditions. The field test led to modifications in the drilling head design and drilling process that enable it to retrieve samples in thin sea ice. All design files and software are provided in an attempt to rapidly enhance our collective understanding of ice-ocean interactions while improving the safety and productivity of field sampling campaigns.
Highlights
Anthropogenic climate change has resulted in a significant reduction in Arctic sea ice cover (Notz and Stroeve, 2016) and in accelerated mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) (Bamber et al, 2018; Wood et al, 2018)
Construction, and testing of IceDrone, an open source and robotic ice sampling platform that was developed around a commercial, off-the-shelf DJI Matrice 600 Pro hexcopter
Laboratory and field tests showed that IceDrone can autonomously retrieve and hold shallow ice samples in glacial ice
Summary
Anthropogenic climate change has resulted in a significant reduction in Arctic sea ice cover (Notz and Stroeve, 2016) and in accelerated mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) (Bamber et al, 2018; Wood et al, 2018). Sea ice studies have been conducted by researchers on ice floes (Assmy et al, 2017) or suspended from icebreakers in baskets (Eicken et al, 2009) and both options present significant logistical challenges and safety risks. The ecological impacts reductions in sea ice thickness and extent on marine ecosystems are poorly understood due, in part, to limited observations. Sampling from boats and using remotely operated vehicles is possible (Lund-Hansen et al, 2018), but these platforms can disturb sea ice algae and areal coverage is still limited
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