Cryo-Egg: enabling wireless communications for a deep subglacial application

目前，在我们对地球系统的理解中，许多地下环境的特征是“空洞”，因为无法接近和恶劣的条件阻碍了有线测量设备的使用。冰川和冰盖的底部区域就是这种环境的一个主要例子。在这里，厚度达几公里的移动冰的存在意味着现场测量通常只能通过“无线”传感器(例如，从格陵兰岛和南极洲向海洋排放冰的快速流出的冰川)。这些测量对于改善目前对冰盖未来对气候变化的反应以及“次冰川”环境作为微生物生命栖息地的作用的了解至关重要。目前，还没有适用于深冰层环境的无线传感器。该提案旨在通过实验室/数值模拟研究相结合的方式，为冰层以下应用的关键无线通信技术提供第一个概念验证评估。在这种深水、冰冻的环境中存在着广泛的技术挑战，这使得技术解决方案广泛适用于存在岩石、水和/或冰的其他深层地下情况(例如深海、矿山、岩石钻孔、永久冻土)。所开发的技术将有许多可能性用于未来的深冰盖钻探科学活动，包括埃尔斯沃斯湖勘探计划(通过项目合作伙伴Siegert)和Beamish(通过项目合作伙伴Smith)。该提案与国家环境研究中心的“气候系统”、“生物多样性”和“技术”等战略科学领域有直接关系，并涉及许多国家环境研究中心的科学主题(如气候和气候变化、冰川和冰冻圈系统、水文过程和环境应用技术)。所进行的研究将为随后的NERC/EPSRC竞标提供跳板，旨在开发第一个用于深冰盖部署的自主传感平台。

Many sub-surface environments currently feature as 'voids' in our understanding of the Earth's system, because inaccessibility and hostile conditions prevent the use of cabled measurement devices. The basal regions of glaciers and ice sheets are a prime example of such environments. Here, the presence of moving ice up to several kilometers in thickness means in situ measurements can often only be made by 'wireless' sensors (e.g. the fast-flowing outlet glaciers that discharge ice from Greenland and Antarctica to the ocean). These measurements are critical to improving the current understanding the future response of ice sheets to climate change and the role of 'sub-glacial' environments as habitats for microbial life. Currently, there are no wireless sensors for deep sub-glacial environments. This proposal aims to provide the first proof of concept evaluation of key wireless communications technologies for a deep (up to 4 km of ice) sub-glacial application via a combined laboratory/numerical modeling study. A wide range of technology challenges are present in this deep, icy environment making technology solutions widely applicable to other deep sub-surface situations where rock, water and/or ice are present (e.g. deep ocean, mines, rock boreholes, permafrost). Technologies developed will have numerous possibilities for future use by deep-ice sheet drilling science campaigns, to include, the Lake Ellsworth Exploration Programme (via project partner Siegert) and BEAMISH (via project partner Smith). The proposal has direct relevant for NERC strategic science areas of 'Climate system', 'Biodiversity' and 'Technologies' and cross-cuts many NERC science topics (e.g. Climate and Climate change, Glacial and Cryospheric Systems, Hydrological Processes and Technology for Environmental Application). Research conducted will provide a springboard for a subsequent NERC/EPSRC bid, aiming to develop the first autonomous sensing platform for a deep ice sheet deployment.