NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists recently announced they are developing autonomous underwater robots that they will use to study uncharted areas deep below arctic ice caps.
They are doing this to improve computer models predicting sea level rise by recording more accurate melt rates especially beneath ice shelves.
“The challenge: The places where scientists want to measure melting are among Earth’s most inaccessible. Specifically, scientists want to target the underwater area known as the “grounding zone,” where floating ice shelves, ocean, and land meet — and to peer deep inside unmapped cavities where ice may be melting the fastest. The treacherous, ever-shifting landscape above is dangerous for humans, and satellites can’t see into these cavities, which are sometimes beneath a mile of ice. IceNode is designed to solve this problem.”
“We’ve been pondering how to surmount these technological and logistical challenges for years, and we think we’ve found a way,” said Ian Fenty, a JPL climate scientist and IceNode’s science lead. “The goal is getting data directly at the ice-ocean melting interface, beneath the ice shelf.”
NASA-JPL
According to a NASA press release, “IceNode’s engineers are developing vehicles about 8 feet (2.4 meters) long and 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter, with three-legged ‘landing…
Source brobible.com
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