EAGER: A low-cost, long-endurance observational platform for the Arctic atmospheric boundary layer

北极是地球上变化最快的环境。自20世纪70年代以来，该地区的气温上升了3摄氏度以上，比全球平均水平快三倍。在过去的几十年里，北极在气候变化的煤矿中扮演了金丝雀的角色，但我们在这个严酷而偏远的地区监测大气的能力仍然非常有限，而且往往依赖于非常昂贵的载人飞行和研究巡航。这与海洋中的情况形成鲜明对比，在海洋中，自主平台提供了丰富的观测结果。由此导致的观测的缺乏阻碍了我们对北极演变的理解，以及它与低纬度天气和全球气候的关系。该项目旨在通过设计、开发和测试一种新型观测平台来克服当前监测北极大气的挑战，该平台旨在在所有季节提供对北极中部的自主、连续访问。该EAGER项目支持自主北极大气观测系统的设计、测试和实施，该系统使用一种新型气球设计，能够为每次部署进行多次探测。该平台的任务要求包括：1)在三周内每天进行4次1公里的探测，并在盛行风的携带下飞越北极盆地；ii)在-50°C至+20°C的温度范围内工作；iii)在降水和结冰中存活。通过进行一系列的台架测试和两次实地测试，该项目将重点验证三个假设。首先，提出的机械压缩气球设计将提供足够的机动性和鲁棒性，以承受恶劣天气的影响。其次，传感器、卫星调制解调器和高比能电池的最新进展将提供足够的重量和能量消耗，以实现三周飞行时间的目标。第三，可以设计一种控制算法，以一种节能的方式自主驾驶多个平台飞越北极。该项目还将通过使用按比例缩小的气球部署的示范活动来支持教育和公众宣传。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Arctic is the fastest-changing environment on the planet. Temperatures in the region have risen by more than 3°C since the 1970s, three times faster than the global average. Over the past few decades, the Arctic has taken the role of a canary in the coal mine for climate change, but our ability to monitor the atmosphere in this harsh and remote region is still very limited, and often relies on very expensive manned flights and research cruises. This is in contrast with the situation in the ocean, where autonomous platforms have provided a wealth of observations. The resulting paucity of observations is hindering our understanding of the Arctic evolution, and of its relationship to lower latitude weather and the global climate. This project focuses on overcoming current challenges in monitoring the Arctic atmosphere by designing, developing, and testing a novel observational platform aimed at providing autonomous, continuous access to the central Arctic throughout all seasons.This EAGER project supports the design, testing and implementation of an autonomous Arctic atmospheric observing system using a novel design of balloons capable of making multiple soundings for each deployment. The platform’s mission requirements include the ability to: i) fly across the Arctic basin carried by the prevailing winds while performing four, 1 km soundings per day over three weeks; ii) operate within a temperature range between -50°C and +20°C; and iii) survive precipitation and icing. By performing a series of bench tests and two field campaigns, the project will focus on verifying three hypotheses. First, that the proposed mechanical-compression balloon design will provide sufficient maneuverability and robustness to survive the impact of inclement weather. Second, that recent advancements in sensors, satellite modems, and high-specific-energy batteries, will provide sufficient savings in weight and energy consumption to achieve the target three-week flight time. Third, that a control algorithm can be designed to autonomously fly several platforms across the Arctic in an energy efficient way. The project will also support education and public outreach through demonstration events using scaled-down balloon deployments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.