Critical model predictions about ocean warming and ice shelf melting are left unverified due to the difficulty in accessing Antarctic ice shelf cavities. The SURGE team plans to deploy an adaptive ice-ocean monitoring system designed to take in-situ, distributed observations of melting processes under the ice-ocean interface with IceNode, a variable buoyancy robot.
Throughout its scientific journey, IceNode will measure the rate at which the ice shelves melt at their base (basal melt rates), which is influenced by ocean temperature and circulation, and varies by location and time. This makes IceNode an ideal vehicle to collect data as it moves through the Antarctic ocean for an extended period of time. This data informs prediction models of sea level rise and improves our knowledge of ocean currents beneath the ice shelf.
The project hopes to scale the IceNode vehicle as a larger, distributed, next generation observation system beneath the ice at various locations around the Antarctic, with an eye on utilizing this technology to explore oceans at other worlds in our solar system.
John S. and Sherry Chen Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering; Director, Ronald and Maxine Linde Center for Global Environmental Science; Executive Officer for Environmental Science
