A yellow IceNode robot with its landing legs extended, underwater in a test pool.
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Subsurface Robotics for Grounding Zone Exploration

ImplementingEarth-BasedGeophysics

Measuring how the ocean drives melting beneath Antarctic ice shelves.

SURGE is designed to measure how the ocean drives melting beneath Antarctic ice shelves. Using IceNode, a robotic platform deployed through the ice to the ocean below, SURGE will make long-duration measurements of melt rates and ocean conditions near the grounding zone, where direct observations remain rare.

Where we’re going

  • Field Site: Ronne Ice Shelf, Site 5c, Antarctica
  • Field Season: 2026–27
  • The SURGE team will deploy to the Ronne Ice Shelf to access the ocean beneath the ice near the grounding zone.

Why we’re going

Grounding zones, where ice sheets transition from grounded to floating ice, play a critical role in how quickly Antarctica loses mass to the ocean and strongly influence global sea-level rise.

Yet direct measurements beneath ice shelves remain rare, and the structure and variability of heat carried by the ocean beneath the ice remain poorly understood. SURGE will make long-duration measurements of melt rates and ocean conditions near the grounding zone, providing a new view of the processes occurring where the ocean meets the ice.

How we’ll do it

Cross-section diagram of SURGE's first mission phases: IceNode and AnchorNode are lowered about 750 meters through a borehole in the ice shelf, and the borehole refreezes to lock AnchorNode in place.

IceNode and an acoustic Doppler current profiler, or AnchorNode, will be lowered through a borehole in the ice shelf. AnchorNode will remain in place, measuring ocean velocities through the water column.

  • A team member holds two compact cylindrical cameras designed to be mounted on IceNode.
  • Justin Schachter points to the connection between the cylindrical IceNode and AnchorNode components.
  • Patrick Phelps and Paul Glick examine a cylindrical section of IceNode on a workbench in the lab.
  • SURGE team members work around a table covered with tools, components, and equipment in the lab.
  • Team members stand beside the upright yellow IceNode as they prepare it for deployment into the test tank.
  • Patrick Phelps and Iona Tirona guide the yellow IceNode into a large outdoor test tank.
  • SURGE team members gather beside the outdoor test tank before an IceNode and AnchorNode separation test.
  • The yellow IceNode hangs vertically from a crane above the outdoor test tank under a clear blue sky.
  • IceNode stands vertically underwater in the test tank, illuminated by green-blue light during nighttime testing.

The Team

Co-Leads:

  • Paul Glick[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
  • Professor Andrew Thompson[Caltech]

Team:

  • Ian Fenty [JPL]
  • Ratnakar Gadi [Caltech]
  • Ala Khazendar [JPL]
  • Andy Klesh [JPL]
  • Ruth Moorman [Caltech]
  • Monica Nolasco [Caltech]
  • Kat Park [Caltech]
  • Michael Paton [JPL]
  • Patrick Phelps [JPL]
  • Justin Schachter [JPL]
  • Mark Simons [Caltech]
  • Russell Smith [JPL]
  • Tim Stanton [Naval Postgraduate School]
  • Joel Steinkraus [JPL]
  • Iona Tirona [JPL]
  • Rachel Etheredge [Caltech]

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[GLASS]

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OperationalEarth-BasedGeophysics